Down the Aisle
by dollopheaddemigodonanadventure
Summary: Reyna has a good life. She's a lawyer working for the best law firm in Jupiter City.But when Piper and Jason announce that they are getting married Reyna suddenly feels a huge sense of loss. Asked to be a bridesmaid, Reyna has to get through the next month of wedding planning without falling apart. Will she have to say goodbye to Jason forever?
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1**

 _"Beep Beep!"_ the phone bleats in quick succession followed by a long vibration. A lean hand with long elegant fingers and smooth tan skin picks it up and glances down at the message.

 _"S.O.S! BIG NEWS! COME NOW… (or as soon as you can)"_ followed by the smooch and stunned emojis. She lets out a sigh, but hits the call button anyway. After a few rings an excited voice answers, "REYNA! Oh gods! Please you need to get over here right now!"

Reyna smiles to herself at the girl's excitement. "I'm sorry Pipes. I'm meeting with a client in ten minutes. I'm not sure how long the meeting will last, but I will come right over as soon as it's done, ok?"

"Fiiiiinnnneee," Piper concedes. "But hurry ok? It's BIG BIG BIG!"

"Any chance you can tell me right now what it is?"

"Nope! No way. I need to tell you in person." A moment's pause and then, "Better yet, bring pyjamas because you are spending the night. Oh there's so much to plan and talk about!"

Reyna frowns. _How much does Piper need to tell her?_ "Ok, my love. I'll see you in a bit." She ends the call, places the phone back down onto her mahogany desk, and leans back absently in her chair. She swivels around to gaze out the floor-to-ceiling windows of her 40th floor office, eyes not really seeing the view but rather thinking about what surprise Piper has. The more she thinks about it, the more certain she feels she knows. She's interrupted from her reverie by the ringing of her phone. Hitting the speaker button, she calls, "Yes Ryan?"

"Mr. Khtonios is here to see you, Ma'am."

"Thank you Ryan. Send him in please. Also could you bring me a cup of coffee and some of that whiskey Hades is partial to? I think we might need to soften him up a bit."

She can hear the uncertainty in his voice when he answers, "I don't think that will work today Ma'am."

She frowns, confused, when a moment later her glass door is pushed inward and a tall, dark-haired man in his late twenties enters her office. He has dark eyes and wears an immaculate, expensive black suit with a white shirt, complete with a black tie. She leans back in her chair in understanding and annoyance. "So your father sent you to do his dirty work."

"Hello Reyna. It's always a pleasure to see you."

"I don't have time for your tricks and charms James. I need your father to authorize the settlement. The other party won't settle for anything less than your father's signature."

The brunette sighs and pushes his fingers through his hair, causing a few strands to fall forward onto his forehead. He points to the couch across from her and says, "May I sit?"

She nods, and he perches on the couch's arm. "Reyna, they want my father to kneel and kiss their feet. My father does not _beg_. Especially from those bastards over at Olympus Inc. Zeus is mad if he thinks my father will give in to his demands."

She feels a rising irritation start to boil in her stomach. She'd worked on this deal for months, negotiating back and forth between the two parties, trying to get them to reach an acceptable compromise. She'd stayed up late most of those nights going through the list of demands trying to find loopholes and concessions that would please both parties. Finally they'd all come to some sort of agreement and all she needed was for the two parties to sign off on the deal. Now here was James telling her that all her hard work had basically amounted to nothing. It's hard not to feel resentful of her job when these moments arise.

But she pushes the irritation down and plasters her most diplomatic smile on her face. "James, we went through this deal with a fine-tooth comb. We've had twenty-four depositions. We've reviewed all the claims, all the here-say. I personally sifted through all the case-files. If this goes to court we won't win. $20 million is not that much. Please just take the deal to your father and have him sign it. Please." She holds the folder out to him offering it like a platter of food.

James shakes his head and begins to pace agitatedly in front of his desk. "Do you know how much humiliation my father has endured at the hands of those… those pompous fools? My father was supposed to be on their Board of Directors – a co-founder of Olympus Inc. until that goddamned son of a bitch Zeus kicked him out." He turns and glares at Reyna, raw anger pooling in the depths of his dark eyes.

Her stomach twists uncomfortably and her shoulders tense when James resumes his pacing, his hands twisting and gesturing aggressively. He rants on – this has obviously been waiting to pour over for a while. "They used him to take over the company and when they didn't need him anymore they shoved his ass out the door. Then they tore down his reputation – do you know how hard it is to do any respectable thing when people think you're a creepy stalker?!" He's breathing heavily, but after a few moments he takes a huge gulp of air, straightens up, pushes the few strands of hair that had fallen loose back, and faces her. "So you see Miss Ramirez, how this deal isn't agreeable to my father. If we sign this, we're basically admitting to all the accusations pointed at us – half of which aren't true. For one thing, my father did not sexually assault Persephone. This whole scandal is tearing my family apart. Where's your justice Ms. Ramirez?"

Reyna gets up and moves in front of him. "James," she says sternly, looking him right in the eyes, "it doesn't matter what is true or not. Honestly most of the time it's just about who can twist the facts more convincingly. If this goes to court, everything your father has built since Olympic Inc. will burn. Your whole life – everything you know – will be over. You'll never find work here. Take the deal. $20 million is a small price to pay compared with what else is at stake here. I am your attorney, I have your best interests at heart. Please, trust me."

He sighs, then slouches against the side of her desk. He takes her hand and presses it to his lips. She shifts uncomfortably, looking around to make sure no one can see them. "James-"

He sighs again and releases her hand. "I know… purely platonic. It's not fair any of it, is it?"

"If you haven't learnt it already, you will soon: life's not fair. It's cruel and it will beat you down. If you want something you have to take it. But sometimes you have to lose first, ok?"

His mouth hardens into a straight line. "You drive a hard bargain Ms. Ramirez. Even when we were in college I couldn't keep up with you." He stands up straight and steps closer to her. He stretches down and takes the file from her hand, then places a rough kiss on her cheek. "I'll see you later _sweetheart_." Then he stalks out of her office.

She collapses on her couch, releasing a long-breath she hadn't realized she was holding. James had his father's angry fire, but he also had his mother's heart. She knew he would persuade Hades to see reason and so she knew she'd won that fight.

But this… _thing_ she had going on with him was dangerous. If someone found out about them… well it would jeopardize this whole deal she'd worked so hard on.

"Ryan!" she calls loudly. A sandy-haired, owl-glassed boy pushes his way through her door. "Make me that coffee to go, and please cancel all my other appointments. I'm going to see an old friend."

Ryan nods and bustles off to do as he's told. Picking up her phone she fires a quick text off to Piper. _On my way. See you soon_. A few seconds later her phone beeps. _OK! Can't Wait!"_

She smiles and gathers her things, pushing work out of her mind for now.

A few minutes later she's on the highway pressing 75 miles an hour in her red mustang convertible. The top's down and her hair flies free behind her. She smiles to herself. Reyna loves driving. She loves the rush and how in control she feels when she drives. She loves the split-second decisions and the thrill of maneuvering windy roads. She loves the rev of her engine and the speed that just takes her breath away. Her mustang had been her own personal treat when she'd completed her first year at Bellona & Athena Law - a toast to all the long hours and sleepless nights she'd endured to get here. It hadn't been an easy ride.

Soon she's out of the downtown core of Jupiter City and turning onto the boulevard that fronts the series of beach-side condos that mark the limits of the city. She turns into the garage of the last one, parks, and takes the garage elevator up to the penthouse. She has to swipe her key-card because it opens straight into the foyer of her apartment since her apartment is the only one on the floor. The elevator's doors ding open onto a spacious foyer with a shoe closet to its right. The floor is tiled with plates of tan marble. From the foyer, a few steps lead down into the living room with comfy slate coloured couches curved around the wall with a mounted T.V. above a fireplace. To the left of the living room is a grand kitchen with granite counters, countless cabinets, stainless steel appliances, and complete with a large island ringed by bar stools for eating. To the left of the foyer a staircase that curves upwards towards the bedroom and bathroom. Tucked underneath the stairs is a small powder room.

She kicks off her shoes and sighs at the feel of cold tiles under her feet. She makes her way to the kitchen and pours herself a glass of wine. Whilst her head is buried in the cabinet, a voice says, "Would you like me to cook you some dinner Miss?"

Reyna pulls her head out of the cupboard to smile at the plump woman. "That won't be necessary Patricia. I've just come home for a shower and some clothes. I'll be staying over at Piper's tonight."

Patricia nods, but asks, "Do you want me to fill your bath Miss Reyna?"

Reyna laughs. "No thank you Patricia. I think I'm old enough to draw my own baths. Go home Pat. Be with your family. Your children need you more than I do." She walks over to the woman and plants a kiss on her cheek. "Buenas noches mama," she says softly.

"Let me see you out first dear. You work too hard."

"GOOOOOO!" she chastises in response.

The woman clucks with disapproval but picks her purse up off the island and heads out. "Sleep well Miss Reyna."

Reyna smiles at her as she retreats through the door. When it clicks shut, she fills her glass with wine and heads upstairs to shower and pack a few things.

Thirty minutes later she's back on the highway speeding towards Piper's million dollar estate just north of the city. When she finally pulls into the gravelly driveway, the brown haired Cherokee girl is running towards her, excitement making her kaleidoscopic eyes sparkle. Reyna is barely out the door when the girl flings her arms around her neck.

"Ooooohhhh I am sooooo happpppyyy you're here!" she squeals.

Reyna gives her a quick squeeze before pulling back. "How could I say no?" She pulls her duffel bag out of the backseat and together she and Piper make their way back to the house, exchanging pleasantries and laughing excitedly.

When they finally reach the kitchen, Reyna drops her bag on a stool before she notices the blond and curly haired women watching her. When she does, a smile breaks across her face and she makes her way to them.

"Annabeth! Hazel!" she greets, giving them both hugs. Turning back to Piper, she says, "This must be some news. The whole gang is here."

Piper laughs, pours a glass of Chardonnay, and hands it to Reyna. "Come on!" She leads them through the back door onto a large porch where several chairs and wicker couches are occupied by several other people. Instantly her eyes are drawn to the electric blue ones that smile up to her. She gulps before she says, "Hello Jason." He smiles in response and she turns her attention to the others. "Percy, Frank, Leo, and… Nico!" She settles down next to the pale-skinned boy and plants a kiss on his cheek. "It's been too long!"

Nico returns the kiss and says, "Well you do make yourself a stranger sometimes."

"Well, what can I say? Your father has had me on my toes for a while now."

Nico smiles. "Yes he can be quite demanding."

Finally, a tall, pale girl, with black spiky hair and startling blue eyes comes out onto the porch. She sees Reyna and takes the empty spot next to her. "Hi Rey!"

"Thalia," she says tilting her glass at her. Turning her attention back to Piper who had settled on the arm of Jason's chair, she asks, "So? What's the big news?

Piper and Jason smile at each other for a moment, before she turns to beam at the rest of them. Finally she announces, "Jason and I are going to be married!"

Thank you for taking the time to read my new story. I'm really uncertain about this one right now, so please please leave your reviews and let me know what you all think... Especially of James. I wasn't sure how a new original character would be for you guys so let me know what you think of him in this story. Ok good reading everyone!


	2. Chapter 2

This is exactly the news she's expecting and yet it still hits her… hard. It's a punch to her gut and she sputters on her drink. Yet the noise is lost in the cries of delight and congratulations her friends unleash at the news.

Percy slaps Jason (who is grinning from ear to ear) on his left shoulder. "Congratulations bro. This is the best news you could have given us."

When the noise dies down a little, she tips her glass to the happy couple and says, "Congratulations." Smirking at Jason she adds, "Took you long enough Grace."

Jason smiles up at Piper and squeezes her left hand which rests on his right shoulder. Piper smiles mischievously and says, "She's right. Any longer and I might have just left you."

He bursts out laughing and pulls her into his lap, upon where he kisses her deeply. When he pulls away Piper looks just a bit breathless and Jason's eyes are sparkling as he looks at her. Seeing the love between them Reyna feels a tug in her stomach and has to take another sip to hide the way she's gritting her teeth.

Regaining her composure, Piper pulls herself straight in Jason's lap and looks at the other women seated around her. "I'd like to ask you all right now to be in my wedding. I want you four to be bridesmaids. Annabeth will you please do me the honour of being my maid-of-honour?"

Annabeth smiles and a chorus of "Yes of course" echoes around the porch as they agree.

"So when's the big day?" Thalia finally asks.

This time Jason answers. "We want it to be soon. Reyna's right. I have waited too long. One month. That's all we have to plan this thing."

"Don't worry about the details. We'll do it right here and we'll have a wedding planner to sweat the small stuff…."

Reyna drifts away from the conversation for a few moments, concentrating on draining her glass. Now she really wishes she hadn't brought an overnight bag. Now that she's here and the news is confirmed, she's not sure if she'll be able to smile all evening. She's not even sure why the announcement has her all riled up. It's been years since she and Jason had… anything. And she had accepted – and fully supported – his relationship with Piper. Hell she'd even given him advice on how to patch things up between the two of them when things got rough. Them getting married was bound to happen sooner or later, so why is she feeling this… resentful. Emptying the glass, she takes one last deep swallow trying to push down more than the wine. When she lowers the glass, she forces a bright smile on her face. The sort of smile no one could question because she knows how to fool people. It's what makes her a good lawyer she supposes.

She zones back in just in time to catch Piper saying, "…and tomorrow we'll be going dress shopping. That's why I wanted you girls to stay over. So tomorrow we can have an early start."

Jason gives her leg a squeeze, lifting her up as he stands. "Well seems like you ladies have a lot to discuss. We'll get out of your hair for now."

Percy leans over and gives Annabeth a kiss, and Frank and Hazel share a long look. Then the boys shuffle out. Reyna wishes she was going with them. She hates shopping and she particularly hates shopping with other girls. But she supposes that this is a special occasion and she's determined not to ruin anything for Piper. So she pulls her legs in under her, settles in more comfortably and tries her best to contribute – _positively_ – to the wedding plans: what flowers they should get; what colours the girls should wear; what colour suits the boys should wear ("Shouldn't we let the boys decide that?" Thalia interjects. "NO!" comes the resolute reply, to which Thalia raises her hands in surrender); what kind of cake they should have; lanterns versus lights; who they should invite; even down to whether the flower girl should wear stockings or not. She's getting tired now, so she leans back and closes her eyes for a moment until a questions forces her to return to the present.

"So who're you going to bring Reyna?" Annabeth asks with a knowing smile.

She sighs. "What do you mean Annabeth?"

"To the wedding. As your date. Who are you going to bring? Who's going to be your plus one?"

She smiles slyly. "You know me Annie. I walk alone."

Annabeth rolls her eyes. "You should really start seeing someone. You know my brother Malcolm – "

She throws her head back and lets out a loud groan. "I am NOT going out with your brother Annabeth. The last time we tried that it was a disaster!"

Annabeth chuckles. "Well some other eligible bachelor."

They quiet for a moment, and Reyna breathes out in relief thinking that their probing is over until, "What about that James guy?" Thalia asks.

Her breath catches and she wonders how much Thalia knows. "Mr. Khtonios's son?" she asks carefully.

"Yeah. I don't use this word to describe many guys, but he is handsome."

"Oooooo yes he is Reyna!" Piper chirps gleefully. "You should bring him!"

"Why? I barely know him!" she objects.

"Then get to know him. Have you seen the way he looks at you? It's like he's drinking in the sight of you," Thalia counters.

"And how would you know?"

"Come on Rey. I've been to some of those meetings between my father and your clients. I've seen how he watches you."

Reyna shivers, paranoia clawing at her stomach. If only they knew. "Well you just said it. He's my client. It would be completely inappropriate."

"Not once this deal is over."

"My firm will still represent his company. Ergo he's still my client."

"Oh enough Reyna! You're lawyering your way out of this one!" Hazel cries throwing her hands up in the air. "Why can't you just accept that someone might be interested in _you._ A handsome, powerful man finds you incredible, you at least give him a chance. You completely block any possible romantic endeavours in your life. Why?" she demands, eyes oddly ablaze.

Reyna squirms in her seat, uncomfortable with the looks the other women are giving her. "Perhaps I don't feel like I can commit to anyone right now. I just… Work is my priority right now. And I haven't met anyone who makes me want to prioritize them over work. So…." she finishes lamely.

Thalia is shaking her head. "You deserve more Reyna."

"And one day hopefully I will have more," she says trying to pacify them and end this conversation. They all murmur fretfully clearly not convinced, so she continues (jokingly), "Perhaps I'll meet Prince Charming at this party your dad has planned to celebrate the settlement."

They all laugh and then begin to rise and file into the house. They have dinner, tidy up, and then Reyna grabs her bag and they all file upstairs to head to bed.

Later, she's tossing and turning in bed, unable to release or ease the tension coiled in her stomach. Growling, she pushes herself off the bed, digs into her bag and finds the packet of cigarettes and lighter that's always carefully tucked away - into a hard-to-reach corner yes, but always there none the less. Without changing out of the long nightdress she's wearing, she pads quietly down the stairs and lets herself out into the cool night. She makes her way to the very back of the property where a lone swing hangs from the branch of an oak tree. Sitting down on it so she faces away from the house, she lights a cigarette and takes a long puff. She takes her time exhaling, letting the temporary high ease her anxiety.

 _Just one month_ , she thinks to herself. _One month and all this will be over. It's not like you'll have to smile the whole time. Just when you're around them. When you're home or at work, you can drop the act. Just be supportive for a little while. You can do this Reyna._ She hopes to god they don't ask her to make a speech at the wedding. The very thought makes her feel nauseated and summons a wave of panic. She takes another long pull, and lets the narcotic do its job.

"You know that really is a filthy habit. Not to mention… bad for your health."

She hadn't even heard him creeping up on her so the sound of his voice makes her jump violently. "Jesus fucking Christ! Jason! You should know better than to sneak up on someone in the dark like that."

He chuckles, but walks around the swing to face her. He takes the cigarette from her, but instead of throwing it away, he takes a long pull and hands it back.

Raising an eyebrow at him she asks, "And what, pray tell, do you have to be so worked up about?"

"I'm getting married, remember?"

She laughs humourlessly. "Yea… to the woman of your dreams. Your _soulmate_."

He nods vigorously, but he's distracted so she's not sure whether he's trying to convince her or himself. "Anyway what are you so worked up about?"

"I'm not at liberty to discuss that with you."

"Ah. The settlement."

"You dad is an asshole. He sleeps with everything that moves and he fucking screws the people that actually help him. Hades should be getting so much more than he actually is, but no fucking body wants to go up against your father. Turns out he's a bully too, but a powerful one at that."

Jason chuckles sarcastically. "Yep, that's my dad." He sits on the swing right next to her. There's not much room so his shoulder is pressed against hers, and his left leg is pressed against her right one. The contact makes her shiver, but Jason mistakes it for her feeling cold.

"Here," he says taking off his sweater. "Take this."

"Jason, I'm not cold," she huffs.

He ignores her and places the sweater around her shoulders anyway. "You're wearing a nightdress."

She'd forgotten about that and suddenly colour floods her cheeks and her neck. She moves to get up and away from him. But he just laughs and squeezes her waist, pulling her back down next to him. "Relax Rey, I've seen you in worse than that remember?"

"You've seen me in nothing," she mutters under her breath, cheeks burning an even brighter shade of red.

"That I did. And you were drop dead gorgeous. I couldn't stop looking at you that night."

"Oh god! Stop! This is so inappropriate! You're getting married!" He just looks over at her and gives her a toothy grin, blue eyes alight with amusement.

"You're the one who brought it up! I'm just showing my appreciation."

She shakes her head in resignation, but nudges him hard in the ribs. He squirms for a moment but doesn't complain.

After a moment she asks, "So are you ready? To be a married man?"

"God no!"

She looks at him surprised. "Then why did propose?"

He shrugs non-committal. "Is anyone ever really ready to be married?" He looks over at her and she shrugs. "No, they aren't," he continues, "but it was going to happen sooner or later and I guess I prefer sooner."

"You don't look like it."

"Perhaps I need to do it before I change my mind."

She rolls her eyes. "Fuck Jason. You're such a drama queen."

He winks at her. "I bet you would love that. To fuck me."

She narrows her eyes at him but she has to look away because she's suddenly imagining his hands caressing her naked body whilst those blue eyes roam hungrily and lazily over her. She feels her body temperature start to rise and she knows that she needs to get out of there… _fast_. _Stop!_ she chastises herself. _He's getting married! You shouldn't be thinking about any of… that!_ Giving herself a mental shake, she says, "How much have you had to drink?"

He shrugs, "A few beers?"

"That's it? You're such a lightweight!"

"Might've had a few shots of tequila too."

She rolls her eyes at him. "Bed now!"

He grins at her, but does as he's told. She watches him walk back to the house, her body still hot and flushed.


	3. Chapter 3

She finishes the cigarette and makes her way back to her room. But now it's not the stupid wedding nagging at her – it's the thought of his hands and tongue and lips tracing every inch of her body that's keeping her skin flushed, and making her heart race, and making somewhere very private feel very _wet_. Finally, _finally_ , she manages to drift asleep, but her dreams still play out the sexual fantasies and when she wakes the next morning feeling disgruntled, she knows she's probably let out a few moans whilst she was out. Thank god she was sleeping alone.

She gets up, takes an extra cold shower, gets dressed, grabs her phone, and heads down to the kitchen. Her eyes are focused on the screen of her phone (which shows her she's about 60 unread e-mails and about twice as many text messages) so she doesn't see him until he says, "Morning sunshine."

She flinches, mentally berating herself for letting him sneak up on her a _second_ time. "Stop sneaking up on me!"

He childishly sticks his tongue out at her and says, "I was here first." He takes a sip from the cup he's holding, eyeing her over the rim. "You look like shit. Didn't sleep well?" His tone is light and teasing and it makes her squirm. She wonders if he guesses what she'd been dreaming about.

Keeping her face cool and non chalant, she replies, "I sleep much better in _my_ bed. It's why I don't sleep out much."

"Mmm-hmmm," he murmurs, "I'm sure it doesn't have anything to do with our conversation last night."

She looks up sharply at him, and his mouth is pressed into a thin line obviously trying to push back his laughter. She rolls her eyes at him – the only reason he can get away with shit like this is because they'd been friends for so long, so there's a certain level of comfort between the two of them. They'd both been each other's first way back in high school, one night in the back of his truck, so they were pretty comfortable making dirty jokes with each other. But… "You complete ass! You're getting married in a month! You know this has got to stop. Piper may put up with this now as your girlfriend – but as your _wife_ I doubt she'll find it amusing."

He throws his hands up in surrender, but the corners of his eyes still crinkle in suppressed mirth. "Coffee?" he offers in peace.

"Mmmhmmm," she murmurs returning her attention to the million and one messages she needs to reply to. Most of them concern work, but she stops at one.

 _Dad accepted the offer. Thought you'd like to know. James._ She smirks victoriously. But there's another one from him a few minutes later. _Missing you, beautiful. Can you please come over tonight?_

Her stomach does a guilty flip. James wasn't much of a dirty texter. His handsome face was complimented by a warm personality. He was a sucker for sweet gestures and seemed to adore her. So whilst he was busy reminding her of his affection, she'd been busy fantasising about sex with her golden boy – who, not to mention, was completely off limits. She was so fucked.

 _Hey. Sorry I didn't text back last night. I spent the night at a friend's house –_ She pauses, not sure if she should send that particular piece of information. She's always refuses to spend the night with him, no matter how much he pleads, always making the excuse that she sleeps better in her own bed. So telling him that would basically be a slap in the face. So she presses the backspace key and starts over. _Hey. Sorry about last night. I was with friends, and didn't check my phone for a while._ Send.

She reads the message over, not ignorant of the fact that it sounds lame. She could at least call him something endearing. But she's reluctant to do anything that means they have some sort of relationship… something more than just sex. She's loathe to even call it friends with benefits. She knows James adores her, wants more from her, but she shuts him down every time. She used to tell him to stop calling her anything remotely affectionate, but since he refused to listen she doesn't respond in kind when he does, hoping one day he'll be discouraged. When he trails light kisses over her back after sex, she refrains from sighing, when he asks her to stay over so he can wake up to her and cook her breakfast, she politely declines. She knows that one day he'll probably get tired of running after her and he'll just stop because _no one_ – no matter how doting – likes to feel as if they're completely worthless to the other partner, no matter how good the sex.

She's not even sure why she's behaving this way. James is a good guy – a _great_ guy in fact – so she's not sure why she feels so reluctant to go anywhere but sex with him. She remembers when they'd first met, back in college. She'd been withdrawn and distant from most people. But James had remained absurdly friendly, reaching out to her no matter how much she pushed him away. After college, they'd stopped speaking (if you would call their talks conversations) and she hadn't seen him again until he'd shown up with his father when she'd taken the case for one of the earlier depositions. She knew he'd been watching her closely, though at the time she thought that he'd been searching her for cracks and tells. But the next day, a vase of flowers had arrived saying _Thank you for representing us. May I interest you in dinner Ms. Ramirez? – James Khtonios._ She'd tried to refuse, but he'd been adamant and two nights later there they were having dinner in his kitchen, which later turned into them fucking right on the living room floor. The next day she'd laid some ground rules and when he hadn't challenged her they'd continued their _fling_. Although lately he'd been more attentive to her…

"You're chewing on your cheek again," Jason interrupts pushing a steaming cup of coffee in front of her.

She hadn't even realized she'd been doing that. Fuck… he would ask…

"What's bothering you?" _There it is_.

She gestures with her phone and lets out a small breathy laugh. "Work."

"Reyna, I-"

But he's cut off by Piper who bounces into the kitchen straight into her boyfriend's – no _fiancé's_ and _soon to be husband's_ – arms. She kisses him and pulls back to say, "Morning."

"Good morning beautiful," he murmurs pressing her face into her hair. Reyna's stomach jolts funnily at the echo of the text she'd gotten earlier from James.

Piper giggles and finally pulls back, "Hi Reyna! How come you're up so early?"

She smirks in reply. "You know me. I don't sleep past sunrise."

Piper rolls her eyes playfully at her. "I woke the others already. They'll be down in a few minutes and then we can hit the road."

"Mmhm," Reyna replies, head buried in her phone.

"And no phones today!" Piper orders.

This forces Reyna to look up at girl. "Piper," she says carefully but firmly, "going one night without checking my phone is dangerous. Going a whole night and day without doing it is suicidal. I can't afford to let my work slide. It'll be so much harder, not to mention stressful, to have to catch up."

Piper huffs, puffing her cheeks out. "If anyone can do it, and do it wonderfully, it's you." When Reyna only raises her eyebrows at her she relents. "Fiiiinnnneeeeeee. But you'll pay attention during the fitting okay?"

Reyna smiles fondly at her. She happens to glance over at Jason before her eyes dart back to her phone, and she notices how he's watching her curiously, obviously still hung up over whatever he thinks is bothering her.

She leaves the couple and heads back upstairs to grab her bag. When she returns, Piper makes a face. "You're not staying the night?"

"No. I'm sorry. I'll have to use tonight to make up for last night." _Lies_ , she thinks. But she still gives Piper her most apologetic smile, and the girl seems pacified – for now.

Soon the others are filing down the stairs, and before long Jason is placing kisses on his fiancée's and his sister's cheeks, bidding them goodbye, and wishing them luck. Before Piper can put her foot out the door though, Jason leans down to whisper in Piper's ear, and Reyna doesn't miss the way that whatever he said makes her bite her bottom lip and stare heatedly up at him before walking out the door. She pretends she saw nothing, and when she walks out behind the Cherokee, Jason smiles vacantly at her, obviously still thinking about what he said to Piper.

Finally, they're on the road. Piper, Thalia, Annabeth, and Hazel ride in Piper's Porsche whilst Reyna trails in her mustang. It's not long before they're pulling into the parking lot of _Aphrodite_ , and the women are climbing out of their cars talking excitedly amongst themselves.

The minute they enter the store, they're greeted by the store manager – a tall, dark haired, Asian girl – the kind of woman so well put-together you know that no matter how hard you try, you'll never achieve that level of cool and effortless glamour.

"Welcome darlings," she greets, immediately sidling up to Piper, taking her shoulders and bumping their cheeks together. "Ah, Piper you're going to be such a… _unique_ bride," she adds, voice dripping with honey.

Reyna sees Piper's shoulders tense up at the manager's attempt at undermining Piper's confidence. So she says, "My god Drew, you always look so… _well_."

Drew shoots her a quick glare over Piper's shoulders, then pulls back, and gives Piper her most dazzling smile (or at least the best one she could pretend to muster).

"Well let's get you started. I've already put aside a few I think would look just _wonderful_ on you," she says ushering them into the back of the store where a few couches are placed in front of several dressing rooms. To the right are three full length mirrors strategically placed in a semi-circle behind a small round stage.

Drew gestures to the dressing room just to the left of the stage. On the hook by the door are three wedding dresses. "How about we get started? Piper in you go, the rest of you ladies make yourselves comfortable."

Her phone beeps as she settles on the couch signalling an incoming text message. " _It's ok. Hope you had fun_ ," writes James.

 _I suppose it was,_ she quickly replies.

A few seconds later… _Suppose?_

 _Yes._

 _Ok?_

She sighs knowing that he's waiting for more. Her fingernail taps against the screen thinking. Deciding, she sends, _Two of my friends are getting married._

 _Oh?_

 _Yes._

 _Like to two different people or to each other?_

 _To each other._

 _Oh… young love :-*_

She rolls her eyes. _And you would know right?_

 _Yes. I was in love… once._

She frowns – he's never mentioned this before. A flash of irritation – _irritation?_ – makes her clench her teeth momentarily before she replies, _Oh?_

 _Mmmmhmmmm…._

She bites the inside of her cheek thinking… Was he baiting her? Taking a deep breath she takes the plunge. _Oh? Perhaps you could regale me with the details sometime?_

 _I don't want to bore you ;)_

 _Too late._

 _Yea right._ A moment later another: _See you tonight?_

She presses her lips together, but then types _Yes._ But before she can hit send, the curtains on the dressing room pull back and Piper steps out and onto the raised platform in front of the mirrors.

The dress, quite frankly, is ugly. Worse, Piper looks like she's drowning in too much fabric. She looks at Annabeth who shakes her head at Drew. Piper looks critically in the mirror, regarding her reflection in the floor length, sweetheart neckline, princess ball gown. It fits snugly from the bust down to waist but from there it puffs out extravagantly into a series of ruffles. Her mouth presses into a thin, hard line and then she says, "I look like a poodle." The girls crack an uncertain smile, so she turns around and adds, "Would any of you like to adopt me?"

They all burst out laughing. "Come on guys, I'm so cute," she teases in a squeaky voice. They giggle some more, but then Piper turns back to her reflection, and looking evenly at Drew in the mirror says, "This isn't the dress Drew. I hope the next one is better."

When Piper disappears into the dressing room once more, Reyna returns her attention to her phone. She's just pressed 'Send' on the text when her phone beeps again. She's about to read it when Annabeth pokes her. "You sure are busy."

She smiles at the blonde. "Ah the joys of being a lawyer. 80 hour weeks, piles of paperwork, and assholes who all think they're right."

Annabeth giggles, but soon stops. "We should go out sometime. Just the two of us."

Reyna rolls her eyes. "I'll just schedule you in for my next open spot in like a year."

Annabeth pokes her a bit harder, making her squirm. "Make it next week."

She rolls her eyes again and opens her mouth to protest.

"And that's not a request."

She closes her mouth and squints her left eye at Annabeth. "Gee thanks for giving me a choice."

"If I give you one, you'll brush me off."

She chuckles. "Touché."

Annabeth smiles triumphantly at her. "Good. Next Wednesday at 8 o' clock. Bacchus Nights. Wear something nice."

"Oooo. Scandalous. Aren't you a little too… _married_ to be going there?"

"It'll be our little secret," Annabeth teases with a wink.

The girls go silent for a bit and Reyna takes the opportunity to return to her phone. This last text is from Jason.

 _How's my beautiful fiancée looking?_

His message, although about Piper, still makes her smile. Hearing from him always, _always_ , makes her smile. Yes, she's fucked and she knows it.

 _A bridesmaid never revels her bride's secrets._

Her phone beeps a few seconds later. _Ahhh. How very loyal of you._ It beeps again: _And how are you looking in your bridesmaid's dress?_

 _Go away Jason. You're bothering us._

 _You're the one who's actually responding. You're encouraging me._

 _GO AWAY! :O_

 _OK! OK! But first: grey or black?_

 _What?_

 _Grey or black? For the suits?_

 _Shouldn't you be asking Piper?_

 _She tells me I look good in everything (which I do btw)_ (Reyna has to consciously stop herself from shaking her head) _but you give it to me straight. So tell me straight – grey or black?_

Sighing, she types: _I'd have to see you in it._

 _kk. We're going suit shopping tomorrow._

She huffs exasperatedly. _Hell no! This has been enough shopping for a whole year. And we just got here!_

 _:( pweddy please._

 _No!_ She turns the phone on silent and turns the screen off, determined not to see his reply. But soon her feet are tapping the floor anxiously and she feels as if she has an itch and no matter how hard she tries, she just can't itch it. The urge to check her phone and text him back is building in intensity, but thankfully, Piper once again steps out of the dressing room.

This time she wears a tight, satin dress with lace and silver beadings on the bodice, and a keyhole back. As she steps onto the platform, there are audible gasps from the other women, and Piper smiles at her reflection, twisting to see the back of the dress in the mirror. She looks up and smiles at them in the mirror, but when she sees Reyna's face, she stops. Turning around she asks, "You don't like it?"

Reyna sighs. "It looks great on you Piper, and you look smoking hot in it. But that's the problem. You don't look like you. You look older, more mature, like you're getting ready for a Vogue photoshoot –" Drew sniffs by the dressing room curtain where she's standing as if she disagrees. Reyna shoots her an angry glare and continues, "But Jason doesn't want a super-model. He wants you. Beautiful, natural you. The dress makes you look like you're trying too hard. And you don't need to try at all."

The others nod in agreement, and Piper straightens up. "You're right. This isn't the dress either."

Drew steps towards her. "Well, third time's the charm right? There's one more-"

"No." Piper holds up a hand cutting her off. "I think I'll take a look around ok?"

Drews' eyes narrow at her, but she nods. "Very well, I'll get you a robe so you don't have to get fully dressed again."

"Thank you," she replies. When Drew disappears, she steps back towards the dressing room, but stops. "Thank you Reyna."

The black haired woman smiles up at her. "What are bridesmaids for?"

The others chuckle and Piper scrunches her nose up at them playfully. Then she walks into the dressing room, pulling the curtain close behind her. Drew returns with the robe, and after a few minutes, Piper steps out again wearing a fiercely determined expression. She drifts away into the maze of dresses, and the other women begin discussing what they think she'll pick."

"Maybe a mermaid?" Annabeth suggests.

"Or a princess with less ruffles?" Hazel adds.

Reyna finds herself drifting away from the conversation. She picks up her phone and turns the screen back on. She sees a message from Jason, but she forcefully ignores it. Instead, she opens her email and begins filing through them. There are tons of messages from her clients and co-workers discussing cases and asking questions about them. She replies to some, but others she saves for later when she's sitting in front of her computer and she has the time to think through her answers properly. She's not sure how much time passes, but soon Piper is clearing her throat and saying, "I think I found the one!"

The dress is folded in her arms, so they can't really tell what it looks like. But she disappears behind the curtain for the fourth time, and after a few moments emerges once again. This time, Reyna is sure she got it right.

Piper wears a lace A-line gown with a beaded bodice, pulled in slightly at the waist, a sweetheart neckline, and a Chapel train. It fits her perfectly, highlighting her tiny waist, and her slender form. She looks natural, and that is what makes her look her best. _This_ is the dress. She runs her hands down the front of the dress nervously. Before turning to the mirror she says, "Well?"

The girls just smile and Annabeth orders, "Turn around."

Piper looks at herself and smiles brightly. "Wow. I'm getting married."

Suddenly, Reyna feels her breath catch. Suddenly, she sees _herself_ in the same wedding dress, standing in front of the mirror, declaring that she's getting married to _him_. It suddenly hits her that Piper is marrying _Jason_ –her _Jason_. The Jason that she's loved all these years. The Jason that she used to fantasize about walking down the aisle to. Her heart clenches with something beyond jealousy, beyond pain – hopelessness. Suddenly, she feels utterly hopeless, and it takes all of her will power to stop from suddenly tearing up.

"Reyna?" Piper calls uncertainly. "Are you alright?"

She looks up at the bride-to-be and forces a smile onto her face. "Yes. It's just - you look so stunning in this dress you made me think about what I would like in it," she says, lying by omission.

Piper beams up at her. "You really think it looks good?"

Reyna stands and walks over to her. She places both hands on her shoulders, squeezes them, and looks her squarely in the eyes. "I think _you_ look resplendent in this dress."

Her smile widens and she asks nervously, "Do you think Jason'll like it?"

"He's going to be in tears when he sees you. You are going to be such a beautiful bride. This is the dress Piper."

Piper gasps back some tears and hugs her. Turning to Drew and the others she says, "I'm saying Yes to the Dress."

The others cheer and round themselves up into a big group hug.

"Now for the bridesmaids dresses…"

 **As always thank you for taking the time to read my work and please feel free to leave your reviews! I thank you all for your continued support :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**NEW CHAPTER! YAY!**

 **Warning: This chapter contains explicit scenes. So if that makes you feel uncomfortable please stop reading after "All thought flies..." and pick up back after "He holds her for a few...". Then stop again at "But she cuts him off..." and pick up back at "After, she lies with her back pressed..."**

 **Otherwise, I hope you enjoy it.**

 **All characters of course belong to Rick Riordan. In case you were wondering if this would be a Jeyna fanfic the answer is yes and no. Yes there will be Jeyna moments, and no because it's not entirely Jeyna centric. I really want to explore Reyna's thoughts and emotions concerning Jason's big day in this piece. But I hope you keep reading and as always please feel free to leave comments and thoughts! They are always appreciated! Thanks!**

Two hours later, the women exit the shop, thoroughly exhausted. Reyna feels as if she's just swam a hundred laps – her limbs feel weak and she's extremely hungry. She's grumpy and just about ready to curl up under her blanket when Thalia suggests they go for lunch. Relieved, she acquiesces and they all drive down to Hestia's Hearth near the harbour front, where they serve the best damn seafood in the city. Lunch passes quickly amid gales of laughter and over good food and soon enough the women are paying their bills.

As they're exiting, Hazel suggests they go for a walk on the beach, but Reyna has had her fill of company for the day. She needs peace and quiet so she excuses herself, promising to meet up again soon ( _not too soon_ , she thinks) and then she's getting in her car and revving down Boardwalk Avenue to her condo.

Soon enough she's home and climbing into a hot bath. She leans against the back of the tub letting the hot water soak into her skin. She can feel her muscles loosening and some of the tension falls away from her shoulders. She closes her eyes and just lets the physical pleasure from the bath consume her – at least for a little while. It's not long before her thoughts turn to the wedding and she starts imagining what it would feel like to walk down the aisle to someone you're so sure you could love for the rest of your life.

She sits for another fifteen minutes stewing in her fantasies until she finally pushes herself up and steps out of the tub. She's got somewhere to go and frankly she's glad. She doesn't want to be alone with her thoughts tonight. She needs to escape and James can give her that.

She doesn't dress up too much. She just combs her hair out so it's glossy and hangs down her back, and slips into a short ivory chemise (no underwear necessary). She also sprays just a touch of perfume behind her ears and at the base of her throat and puts just a hint of makeup on to make her lips look full and her skin glow. For a moment she eyes herself in the mirror. Perhaps she's trying too hard. She goes to wipe off the makeup but hesitates – why should she? It's her body so she should be able to dress it up as she likes – if she doesn't think she's beautiful why should anyone else? So she grabs her coat and heads downstairs.

She's picking up her keys out of the console drawer when the elevator doors ding open. Curiously she looks up, but her shoulders slouch downward when she sees who it is.

"You're disappointed to see me? Really Rey?" the blond hair, blued-eyed boy (who she's supposed to _not_ be thinking about) asks.

"I have to take that key card back," she mutters under her breath. Louder, she demands irritably, "What are you doing here?"

Apparently he'd heard her muttering because he answers, "If you're gonna stop replying to my texts and not answer my calls I'm going to keep the key card. I called Piper and she said you weren't with them so I got scared. Thought you might be lying in a ditch dead or something."

"Really? That's what you're going with?" she asks raising an eyebrow at him.

"Why don't you just answer your damn phone?"

"A: I put it on silent and I didn't check it so I missed your messages and b: I was avoiding _you_ in particular. You'd never stop begging me to go shopping with you!"

"Damn straight I wouldn't," he grumbles and starts pushing his way into the apartment. Raising his left hand he says, "I brought us dinner by the way." But then he stop to stare at her. "You're going out? You look nice."

She rolls her eyes exasperatedly. "Yes, I am going out. Contrary to popular belief I actually have a life."

He frowns. "What are you wearing?"

"It's called a chemise."

"You're not going out dressed like that."

"Excuse me?"

His frown deepens. "No one is going to see you dressed like that."

It's her turn to frown. "Seriously? Ok 1: this elevator goes straight to the garage, where my car is, and from my car I'm going straight into the person's house. 2: I'm actually going to be putting this coat on over it and 3: it's really none of your business how I dress."

The frown disappears but his eyes harden. "Who are you going to see?"

"That's also none of your concern."

"Is it a boy?"

She just raises her eyebrows at him.

"It is, isn't it?"

"Really none of your concern," she sings putting on the coat and dropping the keys into her pocket.

"Do you love him?" he asks quietly.

"What?"

"Do you love him?" he asks again, this time louder.

"Don't be ridiculous Jason."

"So this is a booty call."

Her mouth hardens and she straightens up. Staring him directly in the eyes, she asks, "And what if it is? Like I said it's really none of your concern."

He sighs and puts the bag of dinner (which smells like Mexican) on the console. Walking over to her, he puts his hand on her shoulders and looks her softly in the eyes. "Stay here with me. Please."

She squints up at him, but she can already feel her resolve shaking. If he keeps looking at her this way, she won't be able to say no. "No. I already said I was going."

"Cancel your plans. Stay here."

"No!"

"Please Reyna," he begs, brushing her hair behind her ear. "I brought Mexican and I thought maybe we could just have a Marvel marathon _all night long_!"

She gulps, her resolve now cracking. "No, I'm going. I already have plans." She tries to pull away from his grasp but his fingers tighten on her shoulder bones.

"No, you're staying."

"Jason – "

"Reyna! If you go who's going to eat all this food and watch Marvel movies with me?"

She sighs. "You have a fiancée you know."

He screws up his nose. "She doesn't appreciate Hawkeye's wit the way you do."

"Then make her understand."

"Reyna, come on!"

"No, I'm going." This time she jerks away and manages to free herself from his clutches. "Lock up behind you."

She steps into the elevator and as the door closes the last thing she sees is his face twisted into an injured look.

She finally checks her phone, and there are no less than 30 messages from him and 15 missed calls. He had been getting pretty desperate and she suddenly feels guilty for leaving him the way she did. Honestly, she'd wanted to stay, but she had to stop. Had to stop allowing herself to _moon_ after him. _He's getting married and once he's married he won't have any time for you. You have to stop this now, whilst you can, before it's too late_ , she thinks to herself.

When she gets in the car, she texts James. _On my way. Be there soon._

 _See you soon sweetheart 3 :*_

Despite her misgivings, she smiles to herself. She's determined to enjoy her evening with him.

James lives on the east side of the city, where the 1% all live. Zeus may have kicked Hades out of Olympus Inc. but the Khtonios are still one of the wealthiest families in Jupiter City. James owns the condo building where he lives, which also means that he gets his own private garage and private elevator (all pros by the way since elevator sex was actually a possibility for them).

When he opens the door to his studio apartment, Reyna takes in that he's just wearing a pair of sweatpants. No shirt, and his hair is tousled as if he'd just towel-dried it. He smells strongly of Irish spring (seriously the 1% use Irish spring?) but honestly, it smells good on him. Its clean and fresh and its making her senses tingle. He barely has time to say, "Hey," before she throws her arms around him and kisses him deeply. He hesitates for only a moment, before pushing his right hand into her hair, cradling her head, whilst his left arm snakes around her waist, pressing her tightly against his chest.

All thought flies from her mind as her hands slide down his back, feeling the taut muscles ripple under her fingertips. His skin, in contrast, is soft and smooth, and where her fingers press into his back, they leave little dents. She groans and he pulls back just far enough to whisper, "I missed you."

She looks him in the eye and she can see that he means it. Oh god, he means it. Before he can say anything else she's not ready to hear, she closes the little space between them and crashes their lips back together. It's forceful and aggressive but she's hungry and she just wants him so bad. Doesn't want to give herself any time to think about anyone else or any of her other problems. So she pulls her coat off, and his hands slide down her chemise. She sighs against his mouth as his hands trace the contours of her body and she pushes her tongue deeper into its depths. He groans this time, and returns the gesture with much fervor.

He finally shuts the door and pushes her up against it. Her hands slide down his torso and down into his pants where she can feel how hard he is. When she runs her thumb over his tip, he moans and begins to slide his lips downward, running kisses down her neck, across her collarbone, over her breasts, and down her belly. He stoops and runs kisses up her thighs, heading for the v between her legs. But that's not what she wants - she's looking for instant gratification, not even wanting to bother with foreplay.

"James," she breathes. He looks up at her, his eyes hungry and dark. She cups his chin and guides his mouth back towards her. She pushes the waistline of his pants down and digs her nails into his cheeks. He groans against her mouth and pushes her head back against the door. She manages to pull away enough to say, "Want you inside me."

He nods and steps away. After stepping out of his sweatpants, he holds it up to fumble in one of the pockets. Pulling out a condom, he unwraps it, and pulls it over himself. Her eyes trail over him taking in his toned legs, defined abs, and finally settle on how he's getting harder and larger. She absently licks her lips, tasting his mouth on her. He looks up at her and raises his eyebrows. Smirking, she slips one strap off her shoulder, then another, and lets the chemise fall to the floor, never taking her eyes off him He closes the space between them again, and hoists her up, pulling her legs up and around his waist. Gently, he fits himself inside her and begins to thrust. In and out, and with each thrust she can feel him going deeper within her. She closes her eyes and leans her head back against the door. He starts to build a steady rhythm, but she's impatient. At this rate, everything she's trying to not think about just keeps rushing through her mind. So she leans back in, presses their mouths together, digs her hands into his hair and squeezes her legs around him. He groans at the sudden tightness, and begins to thrust faster. Their breaths become ragged and laboured and their bodies begin to coat with sweat. When he hits her clit, she lets out a long breath. He's thrusting even faster and harder now, and she can feel that he's close so she begins to roll her hips against him, pushing him further in. And now he's hitting her sweet spot harder every time and each time she inhales sharply. The sensations racking through her body are the only things she can think of and she wants so badly to just live in this moment forever. He's about to come so he makes one final rough push and she can feel him explode in her. But she's not done, so before he comes down she continues rolling her hips. Once, twice, thrice, faster, rougher, more desperate, until finally she climaxes, her mouth open in a huge 'O' and her eyes closed in blissful agony.

He holds her for a few more minutes, their foreheads, pressed together, their breaths mingling in the air. "Hi," she whispers, giggling. He smiles and kisses her softly. "Hi," he greets back.

She lowers her feet to the floor, picks her chemise up off the ground, and they finally make their way into his apartment.

One hot shower later, she's sitting at the kitchen bar watching him make them a snack. His moves are slow and fluid and she finds him hypnotic. She likes the way his hair falls into his eyes and how he has to constantly brush it back. Suddenly an image flashes through her mind – Jason just back in Jupiter City, his hair a bit longer, and she running her fingers through it trying to keep it off his forehead. She shifts uncomfortably and tries to push the thought away. James looks up, and smiles slowly at her. "How was your week?" he asks, sliding a plate in front of her.

She picks up her English muffin and takes a bite. Shrugging, she says, "Like any other week: busy."

He smiles apologetically before pushing his own plate in front of the empty chair next to her, walking around the breakfast bar, and plopping down on it. "Mostly our fault. I'm sorry."

She smiles and leans in to kiss him. Pulling back she says, "It's okay. Besides, now you have to make it up to me."

He gives her a flirtatious smile. "I bet I know exactly what to do."

"Uh huh?"

"Mmhmmm." He walks his fingers up her right thigh and leans in closer. "But it'll take all night." His fingers brush against the sensitive skin between her thighs, where she can feel her pulse beating, and where all the heat in her body is being directed.

She bites her bottom lip, closes her eyes, and hums. Before she realizes what's happening, his lips are meeting hers, and he's biting down on her lip, and his tongue is pushing into her mouth. She doesn't resist, but lets him carry her to the couch.

It's not the last time they fuck that night. He's hungry and she's greedy. She doesn't want to think, but it's more than that. She wants to feel like she's _needed_ and when they're fucking she does feel that way – ashamed as much as that makes her.

After the fifth time, she finally rolls onto her back on his bed. The sheets are soft and smooth against her sensitive, over-heated skin. She's exhausted, and her eyes feel heavy. She can't even think about getting up from the bed to get to her car and drive to her condo. So when he says, "Stay with me," she doesn't reply with her usual, "No." She just turns onto her stomach, crosses her arms under her pillow, and closes her eyes. He presses a soft kiss to her shoulder and moves closer. But he doesn't pull her into his arms, and she appreciates that. She's not quite sure when or how but soon she's fast asleep.

She wakes during the pre-dawn glow when the sky is purple but with a touch of salmon. She's a bit disconcerted, having never woken up in his bed before, but there's enough light to see him by. He looks peaceful and _happy_ and she knows when he wakes up he'll be so happy to see her. But she's actually fucking disappointed. Disappointed that his hair isn't blonde and cropped shorter, disappointed that his eyes aren't dazzlingly blue. What the fuck? Every woman wants to spend the night with a man who'd be ecstatic to wake up next to her. She, on the other hand, would rather fantasize about someone who doesn't want her that way; she'd rather love a man who will never love her that way. Hot, angry tears prick her eyes. This is not fucking fair – here is a man who wants her so bad and there's a man who chose another woman – and her heart won't get with the fucking program. Growling, she climbs on top of him and presses her lips – hard – onto his. "Wake up," she murmurs.

He jerks awake. "Hi -"

But she cuts him off with an even more aggressive and hungry kiss. He grabs her shoulder and tilts his head back so he can push his tongue into her mouth. His hands slide down her torso, cupping her breasts – momentarily pausing to stroke her nipples – and then continue down to her hips. Grabbing them, he pushes her down so she's straddling him. She feels him get hard and she lets out a satisfied groan. His hands briefly leave her as he fumbles to find a condom on the night-table. When he finally pulls it on, she impatiently settles onto him – ignoring the way her body protests at the intrusion - and begins to ride him. He leans his head down onto the pillow, his eyes closed. Sometimes he thrusts his hips up, sometimes he just lets her fuck him. But they fuck – and fuck hard - as the sun rises on the world outside them.

After, she lies with her back pressed against his chest, his right arm around her waist, his left stretched out under her neck. He's breathing deeply, his breaths ruffling her hair. But she lies awake, absently stroking his arm, wondering what the fuck she's going to do about her predicament.

She leaves after allowing him to make her breakfast. She'd come out to the kitchen when he was halfway through to find him happily humming to himself. He was always happy after they fucked, but cooking her breakfast seemed to make him radiantly content. She'd slipped away before he'd noticed her – her stomach churning guiltily. So after breakfast, she excuses herself saying she needs to work. He doesn't challenge her – in fact her staying the night had seemed to make him more giving with her.

When she gets in her car, she turns on her phone's Bluetooth, then turns her radio on. Syncing the two devices, she presses the play button, and her playlist starts to play softly. But she doesn't want –can't have – soft. So she turns the volume up, till she can feel the bass booming against the leg pressed against the driver's door speaker. She lets the lyrics flood her mind, and then sings along just to keep her other thoughts from consuming her. As she drives home, whenever her thoughts threaten to suffocate her, she sings louder and louder. By the time she gets home, her throat is sore, but she continues to sing to herself all the way into her apartment.

It's empty and quiet, so she turns on the surround system and continues blasting her music. A thought creeps up, she pushes it down, and focuses on the music. She thinks about the most objective jobs: shower, cook, work – the music entwined in all of that.


	5. Chapter 5

That's how she manages to get through the next few days without thinking about the wedding, about her friends, about James, and about Jason. Work and music have become her entire world – filling in the holes and gaps and _loneliness_ in her life.

So when her phone rings Tuesday night and she sees Annabeth's picture, she's completely baffled.

"Hey Rey!" Annabeth greets cheerily.

"Hey!"

A baby cries in the background. "Wait, hold up Rey." There's a muffled sound, and then "Percy! Can you feed the baby please?" "Sure honey," is the reply.

"Hey, sorry about that! I'm just checking in to see if we're good for tomorrow night?"

She frowns. "Tomorrow night?"

Silence. "You forgot, didn't you?" Annabeth's voice is flat, and Reyna can imagine her mouth in a flat line, her eyes narrowed.

"I'm gonna go with yes?"

"Oh Reyna!" she says exasperatedly.

"I'm sorry. I've just been caught up with work."

More silence. But this time when she speaks, Reyna can hear the blonde analyzing her. "No you weren't. It's more than that. It's this wedding."

"I-" But she can't continue because suddenly everything hits her again, and she literally has to lean against the kitchen counter because suddenly her legs can't support her. Swallowing a lump, she says, "I'm okay. Everything's okay," trying to keep her voice even as possible.

A sigh comes from the other end of the call. "Tell you what. Forget Bacchus Nights. Tomorrow we'll have a girls' night in, ok?"

Reyna bites her lip. Truthfully, she'd rather be left alone. It's easier to ignore her problems when people don't insist on talking about them. But she knows Annabeth would show up whether she agreed or not, so, "I don't really have a choice do I?" is the reply.

"No." Another shrill cry. "Listen Charlie's toothing. So I gotta go, but I'll see you tomorrow ok?"

"Ok," she complies tiredly.

When she ends the call, she presses the phone to her chest and stares out the window. Soon a pressure starts building behind her forehead, so she turns off the lights, and heads on up to bed.

The next day at work James shows up. When Ryan first calls in to let her know he's here, she panics. Until she remembers that he has a settlement agreement to drop off. "Please send him in Ryan."

The door swings open, and James beams at her. He looks fresh – like he's gotten enough sleep, and he's a lot less stressed out. He hands her the folder. "Well it wasn't easy, but you got us here Ms. Ramirez. My father wishes me to give you his best compliments. Although personally I believe he's going to be spending the next few months nursing his injured pride."

She smiles. "Please give Hades my best. And your father is a strong man. He'll be fine."

He smiles fondly at her. He glances back at the closed door and then sits in one of the leather backed chairs in front of her desk. "Listen, I was wondering if we – if I could see you tonight. I'd like to take you out. Dinner at a nice restaurant, movie in the VIP theatre, exquisite champagne, sitting on a hill watching the sunrise."

 _NO!_ her thoughts scream. But she replies calmly, "I'm sorry James. Annabeth and I have a date tonight."

"Oh." He looks slightly crestfallen, but his smile brightens a moment later. "I'm glad. I hope you have a lovely evening Reyna."

He begins to walk towards the door. Before leaving, he turns back to say, "Always a pleasure doing business with you Ms. Ramirez."

She watches him leave, then picks up the phone to page Ryan. But she suddenly has an idea, so she hangs up, picks up the folder, her purse, keys, and coat, and heads out.

Twenty minutes later, she's walking through the front doors to Olympus Inc. She didn't need to come personally, but she's looking for an excuse – _any_ excuse – to see him. She gets in the steel elevators with mirrors on three walls so it looks like you're looking into an infinite space, and presses the button for the 50th floor.

The elevator door dings open to a wide spacious floor. Up ahead is a receptionist's desk, which she heads for.

A pretty blonde smiles up at her. "How can I help you?"

"Reyna Ramirez here to see Mr. Basileus. I have the settlement agreements."

"Follow me please." The blonde leads her to the left where two giant glass doors are framed by tall, marble columns. Opening the door, she announces, "Ms. Ramirez has brought the settlement papers, sir."

A gruff but commanding voice orders, "Let her in."

The blonde stands back so she can enter. As she passes her, Reyna gives the secretary a polite smile.

"Ah Reyna. I must say, you're quite efficient," the CEO booms at her.

Reyna smiles at the middle-aged man whose eyes always seemed to crackle with dangerous energy. He sported a short salt-and-pepper beard that, combined with the intensity of his eyes, make him seem intimidating. "I do take my job quite seriously Zeus."

He chuckles – a deep, rich sound that reverberates in his chest. "You always were, my dear. It's why I would have preferred to have had you represent us."

She smiles politely, but coldly. "Thank you, sir. But I prefer a challenging underdog."

He laughs again, but is cut off by his office doors swinging open.

"Dad, Malcolm sent over the files -" he stops when he finally looks up and notices her standing there. Immediately, his eyes go cold, the usual warm twinkle extinguished. "Hades signed the deal," he finishes unnecessarily. He walks past her, no polite smile, not even meeting her eyes.

Her heart constricts, but she's a little irritated that he's behaving like this. She didn't do anything wrong. She is, after all, a grown woman who is perfectly capable of making her own decisions and seeing other people, whether it be sexually or romantically. But she's never liked being on bad terms with him – it always makes her feel _off_ – and until she sets things right, she feels listless.

She follows him to Zeus' desk and hands him the folder.

"And why, Ms. Ramirez, did you feel the need to personally bring these files over?" he asks, taking it from her.

"I'm not only efficient at what I do, I am also quite thorough. I worked hard on this deal, and I wanted to see it through. I assume, however, that you won't be signing this until Malcolm gets here?"

"Precisely." Turning to his son, he opens his mouth, but Jason beats him to it.

"He's already on his way Dad."

"Good, very good." A pause, and then, "Perhaps you'd like to show Ms. Ramirez your new office?" he asks, raising an eyebrow at him, and smirking.

His son sighs. "Come on," he says. Without turning around to see if she follows him, he heads out of the office. She smiles once more at Zeus before turning around and tracing his steps.

He leads her down a long hallway full of pictures of past CEOs and different models of airplanes. Finally, he stops at another glass door at the end of the hallway. Even though he's acting indifferently to her, he still opens the door and stands back so she can enter first. The office is spacious with a glass desk situated on the left hand side. On the right, a few couches encircle a coffee table, behind which is a series of book shelves. Two walls feature floor-to-ceiling windows making the space feel bright and spacious. She walks over to the opposite wall and peers out the window. From here, she can see the business core of the city, and below them people bustle by, feeling tiny, insignificant, and far, far away. Turning around to face him she says, "It's nice."

He'd moved to his desk, and was rifling through some papers. "I guess," he says casually.

She rolls her eyes and crosses her arms. "Jason," she calls in a slightly commanding voice.

He looks up at her, eyes cool and indifferent. Sighing,' she steps towards his desk. "Out with it."

"Out with what?"

"Whatever you need to say to me."

"I don't have anything to say to you," he says evenly. "You've seen my office. Now, being Vice President of a company is a lot of work, so if you don't mind, I'd like to be left alone so I can actually get through some of it." He sits down heavily in his leather chair, placing some of the papers in front of him.

When she doesn't say or do anything, he finally looks up to find her pressing her lips together, trying valiantly to hold back a smile. "What?" he snaps.

"You're doing me?"

"What?" he asks again, this time confused.

"You're giving me the same excuse I give to everyone to get rid of them. Except you do it much less convincingly."

"Well since you know my true intentions, perhaps you'd like to wait in the waiting room until Malcolm gets here," he replies, gesturing towards the door.

But she's had enough. She moves around to his desk, and turns his chair to face her. Since he's sitting, he has to look up to her, and the position makes her feel strangely powerful. "Enough Grace!" she growls. "Say what you need to say and stop throwing this stupid tantrum!"

"I'm not throwing a tantrum. I'd have to be mad at something to throw a tantrum, and I'm not."

"Jason –"

"No. Enough. You made it clear the other night that you don't want to talk. So enough."

"You're upset that I went out?"

"I'm upset that you walked out on me to go fuck some random stranger."

She steps back and crosses her arms again. He's staring at her, but his eyes aren't cool, they're heated. "You make it sound like I'm some kind of whore."

He has the humility to lower his eyes. "Is that what you're calling me?" she demands.

"No!" he shouts. Uncomfortable and anxious, he turns back to his desk and starts shuffling some papers.

"Then what's the problem if I had sex with someone?"

"There's no problem with that," he grumbles agitatedly.

"Then what?" She feels she knows but she wants to hear him say it. He doesn't respond, but keeps sorting through folders. Exasperated, she shouts, "Enough!" grabs the folders from him, and turns his chair towards her again, this time keeping her arms on either side of the chair so she's bending over him. "What is it Jason?!"

His eyes flick up to hers, and there's a sliver of hurt overshadowed by anger. "You left me. I came over and you just left me."

She rolls her eyes and straightens up. "Seriously? If you're expecting an apology for that you're going to have to wait a really long time."

He snorts and leans back in his chair. "Really? You can't even apologize?"

"For what? I did nothing wrong! I made plans with someone and I wasn't going to cancel with him."

"You made plans with a stranger!"

"He's not a stranger!" she snaps.

"Then why haven't I heard about him?"

"Oh please! What are we? 5? Do we have to go around sharing all our secrets?"

"You know all of mine."

She scoffs. "Seriously? When you ran off to Half Blood University, I sure as hell didn't know about that."

"I told you, my step-mom -"

"Yea, yea. Your step-mom made you go," she mocks in a tired, sing-song voice. "Did she also cut you off from technology that you couldn't call or text? There's no excusing that Jason!"

"Reyna -" His voice is soft and pained with a hint of apology and regret.

"Anyway that's not the point. The point is is that you're mad I didn't want to spend the night with you. I chose someone else over you. You're mad because I didn't wait around for you, that when you felt like _gracing_ me with your presence I didn't want it – as if it was the greatest gift on earth and I was supposed to bend and kiss your feet." She's pacing now, agitation and anger riling her up.

"Reyna -" he stretches towards her, but she continues pacing.

"No! Don't you dare Reyna me! You've always, always taken me for granted Jason! You just assume that whenever you need me I'll always be there, so it's okay when you don't for you to toss me aside. I'm not just some useless household object that you can always find exactly where it was when you need it and the rest of the time you can just ignore it. God, sometimes I feel like I'M GODDAMN TRASH TO YOU!" She's screaming now, days of pent up frustration spilling over. "You're angry that I left you one night, so imagine how I felt when you left me for four years! No call, no text, no e-mails, nothing! But then you come waltzing home like a goddamn peacock and expected us to just carry on with our lives. I missed you, and I thought about you every day, and you didn't even have the courtesy to ask me how I was doing when you came back! Everything was always –" She stops, eyes opened wide with shock. She'd said way more than she'd come here to say and she'd almost said something that she'd tried to bury deep, deep within her. Her cheeks feel wet – she hadn't even realized she'd started to cry. God, she was so weak. She wipes them clean and tries to make her expression indifferent. "The point is that you shouldn't be mad that I didn't stay with you. I'm sorry I had plans already – but if the roles were reversed, if I'd had plans with you and someone else had shown up to my place unexpectedly, you wouldn't have liked it I had elected to cancel my plans with you.

She finally looks at him to find him staring intently at her, his brows deeply furrowed, lips pressed together. Sighing he leans against the back of his chair. "Reyna, I –"

But whatever he's going to say is cut off by the door opening. The blond receptionist pushes her head through the door. "Mr. Grace, sir. Malcolm has arrived. Your father wants you and Ms. Ramirez in conference room one immediately."

He nods tiredly. "Thank you Stella." She nods and walks away.

"We should go," he says, standing up.

She nods and wipes her face clean, smoothes her hair down, and straightens the collar of her blazer, then follows him out of his office.


	6. Chapter 6

**New chapter! Yay!**

 **In which we see girl bonding time between our two lovely ladies: Annabeth and Reyna. Hope you all enjoy. As usual, Thank you for taking the time to read, and for following, and liking, and reviewing. Please feel free to continue to do these things. They are so much more appreciated than I could ever explain!**

For the rest of the afternoon, she's restless. She keeps checking her phone, waiting for a message or a call or _something_ because he hadn't gotten to say what he needed. But nothing – not a peep. So when Annabeth comes over that night, she's met with a very frazzled, very anxious, and very irritable Reyna. She finds her in the kitchen rummaging through her cupboards.

Slowly and carefully, she asks, "What are you doing?"

Reyna peeks out at the sound of her voice. "I feel like baking. Do you feel like baking?" The dark haired girl is bouncing on her toes, eyes wild and anxious. Patricia comes in behind Annabeth. "She's been like this all afternoon. I can't get her to sit down for a minute," the woman complains exasperatedly. Annabeth smiles knowingly at the older woman, whose cheeks are puffed out and grey eyebrows are pointed downward.

"Why don't you let me take care of her for a little while Pat," Annabeth says, placing a hand on her shoulder. Reyna frowns at the pair of them but continues digging in her drawers pulling out different cooking utensils.

"I don't know Miss Annabeth. I've never seen her like this. I don't like the idea of leaving her alone."

"She won't be alone Pat. Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on her." The woman continues to stare at Reyna concernedly for a few more moments, then she looks back at Annabeth, peering at her closely. Finally she nods, walks over to the brunette, and takes hold of her shoulders to try and hold her still. "Rest, my sweet. Take care of yourself." She plants a kiss on Reyna's cheeks and then leaves the two girls to themselves.

Reyna frowns at her retreating figure. "I don't know what you two are so worked up about."

Annabeth rolls her eyes and moves closer to her. "Reyna. You are literally all over the place."

"Everyone has days when things just seem off. It'll pass, I just need to get through this day." She tries for a reassuring smile, but it just comes out weak and flustered.

Annabeth smiles knowingly but turns to the contents laid out on the counter in front of her. "So what are we making?"

Reyna sighs, relieved that Annabeth isn't pushing too hard and pulls out two aprons from the drawer she's just opened. "Cookies. Lots and lots of cookies. Chocolate chip, macadamia nut, and shortbread."

Annabeth nods and the two women busy themselves, chatting animatedly and laughing as they work. Reyna loves to keep busy. It's the best way she's found to quiet her mind – concentrating on a singular task requires a laser focus that doesn't allow her mind to wander. But Annabeth doesn't have the same concentration level she does. So the blonde chats and occasionally she'll come dangerously close to bringing up the wedding or Jason and at these moments Reyna feels her stomach dip and tighten a little bit, and she holds her breath until Annabeth moves on and she feels the danger pass by.

So she manages to get through a few hours without being interrogated and she's starting to feel relaxed just as they sit down to enjoy the fruit of their labour.

But Annabeth, determined to find out what's really going on with her friend, decides to try a more direct approach, much to Reyna's dismay. "Sooooo…" she starts, taking a bite out of her warm macadamia nut cookie, "how are you doing?"

Reyna nibbles the edge of a shortbread cookie, her legs tucked in under her on the sofa they're sitting on. She carefully avoids Annabeth's eyes and tries to modulate her voice to keep it steady. "Good. I'm good."

Annabeth sighs. "Reyna getting a straight answer from you is like trying to get a shark to eat kelp." The blonde flops back against the arm of the sofa. "I know you're not okay. Just talk to me, please."

"I'm ok. Really. I just need to get through the next month and everything will be okay." Even to her, her voice sounds uncertain and she still can't meet Annabeth's eyes.

"Are you trying to convince me or yourself?"

Reyna sighs and leans her head down against the other arm. She closes her eyes for a moment and swallows feeling the warmth of the cookie travel down into her stomach. There is a tiny pound right between her eyes.

Annabeth doesn't push her, but she can feel the tension from the blonde, and she knows that Annabeth is waiting for an answer.

Feeling around, she puts the cookie down on the platter. Quietly, she starts, "I want to be okay. I don't want to not be okay. Does that make sense?" she finally concedes, her eyes still closed. She can't look at Annabeth, doesn't want to see the pity in her grey eyes that she's so sure will be there.

"Yes…"

"I want to be happy for them. I know they love each other. I knew they would probably get married, have kids, grandkids. Have their own white-picket fence home in the suburbs, and Jason would go to work, and he'd come home to Piper who'd kiss him as soon as he walked through the door. I knew – know – that this is where they'd be. So why do I have this awful feeling in my stomach? Like everything is falling out of me, like I can't breathe deeply enough to fill my lungs? This literally has no effect on me. They've been together for so long. This is just them continuing their lives together, so why does it bother me so much?"

Annabeth doesn't reply, so she opens her eyes and glares at the blonde. "Why Annabeth?" she demands. "You came her to offer some sagely advice, so tell me how to make it stop. Tell me I'm being stupid and immature. Confirm it so I can move on."

"Oh Reyna." Annabeth's grey eyes look like a rainy day – sad and desolate. "It's not stupid."

Reyna huffs and pushes herself up to a sitting position, her back straight and rigid. "It is stupid. Why should I be sad that two people have decided to make an official commitment to each other? Two people, whose lives have nothing to do with me? Whose decisions have no effect on me?" Her eyes are opened wide, and even though she hasn't raised her voice, there is a certain forcefulness to her words that underlines the anguish she's feeling.

"It's not stupid," Annabeth insists, this time with more conviction. She doesn't try to hug the brunette because she knows that gesture wouldn't be appreciated. "It's not stupid because this wedding does affect you. It will change everything."

Annabeth's words is the straw that broke the camel's back. She knows it's true, but she had pushed it to the back of her mind. But Annabeth now confirms it and she can feel her heart breaking. Her shoulders slump down and she falls back against the sofa's arm. She closes her eyes – she feels drained and suddenly empty.

"Reyna?" Annabeth reaches out and squeezes her hand. "You knew that right?"

Reyna returns the gesture before pulling her hand away. She pulls her knees up to her chest, wraps her arms around her knees, and rests her chin on her knees. "I know. Suddenly he can't even be my friend."

"I'm sure Jason would disagree with you."

"He is naively optimistic. Always has been."

Annabeth smiles ruefully. "Will you try to make it work?"

"I'm not naively optimistic." She sighs, and the girls both fall into silence. When she can't bear it anymore she says, "I just – I thought when I got over him coming back to Jupiter City with a new life I'd be okay. But it feels like I'm losing him all over again. And I feel like complete shit. Why do I feel like complete shit? We are friends yes, but nothing extraordinary." The words are spilling out of her – she needs someone to convince her right now that there is nothing between her and Jason.

"Well I wouldn't say that exactly," Annabeth ventures. Fuck.

She covers her ears. "Mm – mm. Nope. I can't hear this."

Annabeth rolls her eyes exasperatedly. "You need to." Reyna sighs and moves her hands. "Whether or not you care to admit it, he is your best friend. He is your confidante and your shoulder to cry on. He is always the one you call when you're having a bad day. You know that Rey!" The brunette groans and buries her face in her arms. "No matter how much you tell yourself not to, or try to convince yourself you don't, you still love him. That's the truth and that's the problem."

Every word Annabeth says is true, she knows it. The pounding between her eyes is increasing in intensity. "How did I let it get this bad? I knew when he came home that whatever was between us before – that it was over! How did I let this happen? Why am I such an idiot?!"

"I blame you both. You because you let him in when you shouldn't have. Him because he chose to be the same person he was to you all those years. You still love him Reyna, simply because he is still the same person you fell in love with all those years ago. You opened your heart to him because he opened his to you. He gave you the chances no one else cared to give. And he's still the only one who understands you for you. Who knows what makes you tick, what irritates you, what excites you. The rest of us keep believing that we do but we don't even come close. It's who you are Reyna. You don't love easily, but when you do, you do so deeply. You love the Jason then and you love the Jason now."

She sighs tiredly. "You seem to understand me pretty damn well. Why can't I just be in love with you?" Her voice is slightly muffled because her head is still buried in her arms.

"Don't do that," Annabeth admonishes. "I'm married remember?"

"All the good ones are taken," Reyna grumbles.

"You're not looking hard enough."

Her head snaps up. "Oh no! If you tell me that I need to get out there and find someone I'm going to rip your tongue straight outta your mouth. I have heard that speech too many times before – so many times in fact that just the thought of it makes me sick. Finding someone new is easy, it's loving them that's the hard part. Harder still is getting them to love you right back."

Annabeth pushes the last piece of her cookie into her mouth, titling her head in consideration of the woman sitting in front of her. "You don't think anyone else will love you?"

She shakes her head. "Not the way he does – or did. Love like that only comes around once in a lifetime. Some of us hit and some of us miss."

"Maybe you just need to keep an open mind… and heart."

She picks up her cookie and takes another bite. "My heart is plenty open."

"Mmmm-hmmmm," Annabeth murmurs skeptically.

"It is!"

Annabeth smiles knowingly. "Oh really?"

"Yes. I am trying you know. To get back in the game, meet someone new. But I can't. I am literally incapable of loving anyone else."

Annabeth frowns. "How do you know that?"

She takes a deep breath before replying quietly, "I've met someone."

Annabeth doesn't squeal or grin excitedly. She just regards her seriously for a moment. "Is it serious?"

"If by serious you mean are we having sex? Then yes, it's serious."

Annabeth leans back against the back of the couch and gazes off thoughtfully. After a few moments of silent deliberation she asks, "And nothing?"

Reyna shakes her head again. "Nothing. Nada!"

Annabeth clicks her tongue. "How about that."

The brunette continues, not waiting for any prodding from her friend. It feels good to talk about this with someone (even if it's making her head feel like it's going to explode any moment). "And it's not like he's not good to me or anything. He is a perfect gentleman. He's kind and generous and caring. He doesn't push me for more. But it…" she trails off, waving her left hand, unable to find the words she needs.

"It's not the same," Annabeth finishes for her.

She shakes her head and uncoils her body, stretching her legs out on the floor. She slouches down so her head rests against the back of the sofa. "I just want to move on. I feel like such an idiot. I'm pathetic and sad."

Annabeth doesn't say anything for a few minutes. But then she starts speaking again, her voice quiet and cautious. "Have you told Jason about how you feel?"

A harsh bark comes from the brunette. "And why would I do that?"

"Maybe it's something you two need to work out together."

"If I tell Jason how I am feeling, he'll feel guilty. Then he'll do something stupid that'll be bad for him, Piper, and me. Trust me, telling Jason is not an option."

Annabeth scratches her upper lip. "Yea you're probably right."

The women fall into silence again – Reyna having reached her limit for divulging personal information, Annabeth having run out of possible solutions. When the quiet becomes too much, Reyna picks up the remote and turns on the T.V. After a few moments of channel surfing, she finds a marathon of the Avatar cartoons, and they settle in for the show.

Much later when Annabeth has left, Reyna can barely think over the pounding in her head. Talking about her problems may have temporarily alleviated her anxiety, but she still hasn't found a solution, and now she'll have to deal with Annabeth constantly scrutinising her to make sure she's okay. In the long run, spilling the beans was not a wise decision.

She needs a cigarette, so she retrieves the almost full packet from her night-table and goes out to the balcony. Tonight it takes more than one to calm the hungry hole threatening to swallow her from the inside.


	7. Chapter 7

**New chapter everybody! And as a special gift: it's extra long! Yay!**

 **In which Jason and Reyna have some quality time together.**

 **WARNING: Chapter contains explicit and mature content.**

 **ALSO, some of this chapter was inspired by Magic Mike (you'll know when you get to it) ;).**

 **So please, go forth and read! As always, feel free to like, follow, and leave comments. Those never fail to brighten my day!**

 **ENJOY!**

She jerks awake when her phone suddenly blares loudly from her nightstand. Her right hand slaps around the table for a few seconds trying to find it. Finally, she manages to grab it and without opening her eyes, she presses the answer button.

"Hello?" she croaks, her voice distant and low.

"You're still sleeping? At 9 in the morning? Whhhhaaaaaaatttt?!"

She groans. "Why are you calling me so early?"

"This is a new record. I'm up and you're not! I'm high-fiving myself." She hears a distant clap in the background and she can see his blue eyes sparkling with amusement.

"Go away Jason. I'm sleeping!" she grumbles. She moves to hang up and maybe he senses that because he shouts, "Wait, wait! I actually need to talk to you."

"You've waited four days. You can wait a few more hours. Bye."

"Reyna." She can hear him rolling his eyes in his tone.

"What? It's Saturday. I don't ever get to sleep in. Leave me alone."

He chuckles. "You're pouting aren't you?"

"No!" She is. That just makes him laugh. "Go away Jason."

"No. You're already awake. Talk to me."

"I've been talking to you. You're the one who was refusing to talk to me!"

"I got over it."

"Clearly."

"I can't stay mad at you."

"Obviously."

"What are you doing today?"

"I-" the question catches her off guard. Suspicious, she asks. "Why are you asking?"

"Because…" her bedroom door is pushed open and she hears footsteps on the hardwood floor. "You and I are in desperate need of some quality friend bonding time," he replies from the doorway of her room.

She groans and pushes her face into the pillow. "It's too early for this shit," is the muffled reply.

She feels the right side of the bed sag as he climbs onto it – left knee first. He bends over her and whispers in her ear. "Reyyyynnna. Wake up. Reyyyna. Reyna," he sings.

His breath tickles her right ear, and she scrunches up her nose in the pillow. "Mmmmmmmm!" she complains.

His crooning falters and he starts to chuckle. "Come on Rey! You're wasting precious time."

"Mmmmmmm." Her lungs begin to protest and she pulls her face out of the compression. Turning her head to the left, she keeps her eyes squeezed shut.

"Reynaaaa." When she doesn't respond, he presses on. "Reyna. You are my sunshine, my only sunshine," he begins to sing.

"Mmm-mmm. Stop!" she pleads.

"You make me happyyyy when skies are greeeeyyyy," he continues, voice growing louder with each syllable.

She pulls the right end of the pillow over her ear trying to block out his voice. His voice breaks as he laughs, but he keeps going. "You'll never knooooow deaaaarrrrr how much I loooovvveee you," he croons. Climbing over her so his knees are on either side of her, he pokes her in her left rib. She squirms, and he pokes her again, this time in the right, making her twitch again. "Please don't takkkeee my sunshine awaaaaayyyy." He begins to tickle her more purposefully now – in her sides, under her neck, and her toes – making her shudder violently. She presses her face back into the pillow trying to stifle a laugh, but when she can't force it back any longer she turns onto her back, laughing hysterically. She pulls her legs up to her chest and tries to swat Jason's hands away. But he just chuckles gleefully and asks, "Are you awake now? Huh?" punctuating every question mark with a gentle poke.

"Jason! Stop, please," she begs, trying to grab his hands to hold them still. But he avoids her, and now pokes her in her belly, and her giggling escalates uncontrollably. She pulls her knees more tightly to her chest trying to protect herself, her sides hurting from laughing. "Seriously, it- it hu- hurts. I ca-can't breathe any-any- anymore. OOOOPPPP!" she yelps, when Jason jabs her again in the right rib.

"Are you awake?" he asks innocently.

"Yes. Yes. Yes," she gasps, raising her hands in surrender. "I'm awake." He grins triumphantly and flops down on her left.

Turning her head to him she asks, "What are you doing here?"

Closing his eyes behind square rimmed glasses, a contented smile on his face, he replies, "Spending all day with you of course."

"Jason. You can't."

"Says who?"

"Says me." After a pause, she murmurs quietly, "And probably Piper."

Jason opens his eyes and looks at her with raised eyebrows. "You know I'm not married to her yet."

"No. But you will be. In…" She does a mental count, "three weeks."

"Right. In three weeks I'll be married and I'll be a husband with a home and a wife and soon kids. I won't have any time! So until then, I plan to enjoy every moment of freedom I have left."

"Jason. You need to be with Piper right now. You have a wedding to plan!"

"Piper's meeting her mom and the wedding planner today. They don't need me."

"Of course she needs you doofus."

"Nah. She won't ask for my opinion."

"A: I'm pretty sure that's not true. And b: even if she doesn't, she still wants you to be there."

"Reyna! It's okay. We talked about me not being there today! We are both okay with this," he replies in a nonchalant way.

His tone makes her suspicious. Narrowing her eyes, she demands, "And what exactly did you say you were doing today?"

"I said I was catching up with an old friend."

"An old friend? Did you mention said old friend's name?"

"Reyna," he scoffs, "of course I did."

"Mmmm-hmmmm. And your fiancée was okay with you ditching wedding planning to spend all-day with your… _female_ best friend?"

"Ummm… I may have been mum on the specifics of how much time we're actually spending together."

She pulls the pillow out from under her head and smashes it onto his face. "God, you're such an asshole."

Pulling the pillow away, he says, "Better to ask forgiveness than permission. If I'd been explicit about my real intentions perhaps she might have tried to shut me down."

"Because she also knows what we both know: that you spending all this time with me – alone and currently in my bed – is absolutely inappropriate."

"Reyna." He turns on his side and props his head up with his left palm so he can look down at her. "You fucking care too much what those shitheads say, you know that."

"Fuck off Grace!"

"No listen. You're my best friend. It shouldn't be like this. I should be able to spend time with you without people having to criticise."

"But they do!"

"Yea and fuck them. I care about you. You care about me. Why the fuck does anything else matter?"

She sighs and pulls back the pillow, stuffing it back under her head. "It'll matter to Piper. I don't want her feeling… threatened. Like there's anything…." She gestures at the space between them.

"Reyna, she knows that you're my best friend. She knows you're important to me. But she knows I love her. I proposed to her, didn't I?"

"If you were so sure you'd have told her exactly what your plans are for today."

"Well I don't have exact plans yet so I didn't exactly lie."

"A technicality. One I'm sure she'd looovvveee to have you explain."

He huffs loudly. "Ok are you just gonna waste the entire day explaining to me why I shouldn't be here? I'm already here, ok? So can we just move past the technicalities and move on to the part where I show you that I don't take you for granted?"

She pulls back so she can look at this whole face. "That's what this is about? Redeeming yourself?"

"Nope. This is about you. Showing you just how great a friend I think you are."

She sighs and relaxes back against the pillow. After a moment, she turns back to him. "Did you bring me breakfast?"

A huge grin lights up his face and he throws a fist up in the air. His jubilance causes a warm feeling to start unfolding from her core and she smiles – the first genuine one she's had in days. He jumps up on the bed. "Now we're talking sunshine." Then he hops to the floor and scurries out of the room. When he reaches the door, he pauses to turn back and say, "You wait right there Miss. I'll only be a moment."

He disappears, and she can hear dishes scrambling. Sure enough, a moment later he steps back into the bedroom holding a tray with a plate piled high with food and two coffee cups. "Breakfast m'lady," he says, bowing slightly.

She shakes her head and swallows a silly giggle. "Bed and breakfast? Hmm, I might have to keep you around, dear sir."

He grins at her again – a smile full of happiness and directed only to her that makes her breath catch and her stomach to flip suddenly.

"I hope you tip generously," he says making his way over to her bed.

"Ha! We both know you owe me big time Grace!" She sits up and moves over so he doesn't have to climb over her again.

Grinning, he sets the tray down on her lap and sits back down. He props a pillow up against the headboard, leans back, and pulls the blanket over himself. He shuffles around for a bit until he's comfortable – Reyna watching him all the while. His presence is so familiar. She knows how he likes to sit – and yep soon enough he's slouched down so that the base of his spine is pressed against the pillow, his middle and upper back falling against the headboard. But the thing about Jason is he also likes to touch – he needs to feel skin-to-skin contact to be comfortable. So he presses himself right up next to Reyna. He's slightly taller, so her left shoulder presses into his left bicep, but their hips are perfectly balanced, and his right leg stretches out against her left – soft denim against bare skin. Even that contact makes her shiver, but Jason is too busy digging through her night table to notice.

After a moment, he looks over his shoulder to smirk at her. She frowns quizzically at him and he raises his hands to reveal the pack of condoms he's found. Shaking her head she huffs, "I'll take that, thank you," and jerks it away from him. His smirk deepens. "What? Are you five? You've never seen condoms before?" she asks incredulously.

He chuckles and goes back to hunting through her drawers. Finally, "AHA!" and he raises the T.V. remote triumphantly.

"Really? That's your plan. We're just going to sit in bed all day and watch T.V.?"

"For now," he shrugs and switches on the T.V. He flicks it to their favourite cartoon channel and settles in for the usual morning programming.

 _Yo Danny Phantom he was just fourteen_

 _When his parents built a very strange machine…_

"It was designed to a view world unseen," she mutters under her breath.

"He's gonna catch 'em all cause he's Danny Phantom," Jason whoops.

They both dissolve into fits of giggle. "Yo Danny Phantom is da bomb!" Jason declares.

"He's ma main man."

"What am I, then? Your side-chick?"

"My arm candy," she giggles.

He grins at her again, and picks a piece of bacon off her plate.

"Hey!" she snaps, playfully slapping his hand. "My breakfast!"

"Look an eagle ghost!" he says pointing to the T.V. screen. Her eyes flick towards it just long enough for him to grab another piece off her plate. "Hey!" she protests pouting.

He laughs at her and she can't help but laugh back.

It's nice - having his company. She feels content and peaceful, and for the first time in the past week she manages to forget that she actually has problems. There's something safe and sweet about this – sitting on her bed, sharing a plate of breakfast, and watching one of their favourite cartoons. _This is familiar_ , she thinks to herself, _we used to spend weekend mornings like this_. A wave of nostalgia washes over her and she squints up at Jason, the fork frozen between the plate and her mouth.

"You're missing the best part," he says without pulling his eyes away from the screen. Finally he glances down at her. "And you're gonna drop that," he smirks.

She pushes the fork into her mouth, and swallows quickly, not even bothering to chew. "Jason, you have to go."

"What? Reyna. We've been through this already. Screw the world. It's me and you against them today remember?"

"That's the problem."

He sighs, mutes the T.V. and frowns down at her. "And how is it a problem?"

"It used to be just like this." When his frown deepens, she continues. "Before. Before you went away."

His frown disappears and a sad, pained look crosses his face. But before he can say anything she keeps going. "I- it was me and you against the world back then. For real. Back when I thought I wasn't going to matter to anyone or anything – there was you. You. Me. Against the world. Literally."

He doesn't say anything for a moment. Finally, "I'm sorry."

"I know you are. You're always so noble and kind and genuine and sincere. It's what I love-eed about you. You always want to do the right thing and you never want to hurt anyone so I know you didn't mean to hurt me when you went away. But it did hurt."

He shuffles anxiously next to her. "I'm sorry," he repeats lamely.

She continues as if she didn't hear him. "And when you came home I was… confused. I was overjoyed… but also angry. So angry for you leaving in the first place, angrier because you never contacted me, and angrier still because you had… well you had Piper."

He's sitting quite still next to her. She wonders if he's holding his breath because she can't even hear him breathe. "And I didn't understand. When you left I thought you loved me but then you came home and you were with her. No explanation, just boom: you love me, then you love her. I was confused… and bitter. I hated you…but I also loved you. And I hated myself for still loving you. But you were still kind and noble and genuine and sincere and so I still loved you. I wanted to be close to you but I also wanted to hurt you. You just made me so confused."

"I- I didn't know, Reyna. I didn't know," he mumbles – voice thick with shock and sadness.

"I hid it well. I didn't want you to know. Didn't want you to know that you had the power to hurt me that way. You remember what I used to say?"

"People can only hurt you if you give them the power to do so."

She nods vigorously. "Yes, and I didn't want to give you that power. But eventually I met Piper, and I could see why you loved her and she seemed like a good match for you and somehow I managed to move on. Or at least I thought I did."

"Thought?"

"I haven't," she conceded, nonchalantly. "I realized it when you and Piper announced your engagement."

"Oh."

"That's why you have to leave."

"I still don't understand."

"You have to go because this is wrong. Doing this with you is wrong. We aren't just friends. We're a mess. And it's not fair to Piper for you to be with someone so obviously and hopelessly in love with you when you're marrying her in three weeks," she finishes matter-of-factly, succeeding in not succumbing to any emotions. _There'll be time for that after he leaves_ , she tells herself.

"Why didn't you say anything before?" His voice is even and calm but she knows better: she knows when he's trying to restrain his anger.

"Because I tried to push it away. Because I didn't want to burden you with it. Because I didn't want to be weak. Because… Well just because."

"You should have told me." His voice is shaking now.

"No I shouldn't have."

"Then why did you just tell me?" His volume just a tad louder, voice strained.

"Because you're so damn oblivious. Can't you see what you're doing?"

"I'm doing this because you're my friend and I care about you!" he shouts at her.

She cringes but she keeps her voice calm. "You used to do this and I fell in love with you. And you keep doing it so I'm still in love with you. You must stop."

"You're telling me that I should stop caring about you? Seriously?!" She looks up at him to find his eyes blazing with anger – but also with sadness and pain. "That's like me telling you not to love me. Damn it Reyna, we can't tell each other how to feel!"

She grits her teeth together and swallows trying to push back the sob she can feel gathering in the back of her throat. "I know you can't just turn it on and off. But if we… maybe if we just didn't see each other, maybe if we just allowed ourselves to drift apart, then maybe we could do it," she reasons.

"You want us to not be friends anymore?" his voice trills with incredulity. "Nope, won't do it!" he declares with much conviction.

"Jason," she says calmly, "We have to."

"No we don't."

"Jason, stop being childish!" she snaps. She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes, trying to contain the momentum of emotions pounding against her brain. Evenly, she says, "It isn't fair to any of us. How can Piper be sure of your intentions if you're spending so much time with me? And it's not fair to me because I love who you are. And who you are hasn't changed. And it won't change, so I won't stop loving you. It's an endless cycle. And it's also not fair to yourself. Every time you look at me you'll feel guilty because you'll think you've hurt me. You shouldn't have to worry about that. You should be happy. You and Piper have something real together. You should celebrate your love with her not feel guilty about it. Please Jason. Think about it, you know this is the right thing to do." She twists around to look him earnestly into his face. "Please."

His mouth is pressed into a thin line, and his eyes are glazed over into a faraway expression. He looks shell-shocked. Finally he manages to look at her. Perhaps for her sake, he swallows and forces his voice to be calm. "You're right. Thank you for telling me."

She gives him a tight smile and breathes out, falling back against her pillow. "Will you leave now?"

"No."

She opens her mouth to argue but he raises a hand to cut her off. "First, I'd like to complain about your methods. You literally unload everything all at once. Completely unfair."

She manages to give a small chuckle. "Fair enough. Second?"

"Second: I still feel the need to tell you I am sorry. God. I feel like such a fucking idiot. All this time you were feeling this way and I never even noticed. Took you for granted. Overlooked you. God. I'm such a complete ass."

"True."

He gives her a tight, pained grin. "Third, I propose we have a farewell party."

She frowns at him. "What?"

"I'm already here. I already brought you this food. I'm already snuggled under this luxurious blanket of yours. We're already watching Danny Phantom. And I already told Piper that I was spending time with you. So I propose we just try to forget out quarrels with each other for a little while and enjoy our last day together. Celebrate the many years of love and friendship we shared. No wedding, no Piper, no other-man-in-your-life-whose-name-I-do-not-know. Just me and you and all our wonderful years together. I'm sure you've got champagne somewhere in here."

He looks at her expectantly, and she wrinkles her nose up at him. But finally, she sighs. "Yes. Alright. Sounds like a plan. But the champagnes for dinner. Which you are cooking, by the way."

"Which we are cooking by the way."

"Which we are cooking," she concedes with a small smile. Sitting back against her pillow, she unmutes the T.V. and for a while they just follow the story.

But then, "In love with me? Really?" His voice is filled with disbelief, but also with something akin to hope.

"Leave it! If we're throwing ourselves a pity party we aren't going to talk about our problems. We're just gonna get high and wasted and enjoy the shit out of this day."

"YES MA'AM!" Jason yells in agreement.

And it turns out to be a good day. They parrot lines from the cartoon back and forth to each other, getting into character and really enjoying it. They play Wii sports – Reyna kicking Jason's ass at boxing and tennis and bowling and archery – and only stop when Jason can't handle being defeated one more time by Reyna. They even pull out some old crayons and markers that Reyna keeps in a box for Percy's kids and amuse themselves drawing ridiculously bad pictures of each other (although Reyna admits to herself that she looks kind of nice in some of his pictures and that Jason is indeed much better than her at art).

When they need some fresh air, they take Reyna's bikes out and head towards the nearby bike trails winding through the beachside park. Before they start, they stop at the neighbourhood café and pick up some pastries and brownies which they pack into a small wicker basket for a mini picnic. The ride is nice – the air that whips at their faces and clothes is fresh and clean, and it feels nice after the heat of the apartment. The day is sunny and there aren't any clouds so it's the kind of day that makes you feel stupidly happy even if you can't explain why. Sometimes they race down the trail calling taunts to each other like "You can't even handle me right now Avila!" and "Do you feel bad for that snail down there blondie? Is that why you're letting him pass you?" But other times they just ride alongside each other, laughing at each other's jokes and reminiscing about past times.

When they get to the end of the trail, they walk their bikes up a small hill, where on the other side, a small stream bubbles by busily past the roots of an ancient willow tree. The park their bikes against the trunk, and settle down to enjoy their snacks. It's peaceful and quiet and they both feel a little drowsy from all the days' activities. So Reyna leans back against the trunk and stretches her legs out. A minute later Jason lays his head in her lap and closes his eyes. She hums and a contented smile begins to grow on her face. She fingers his hair, and brushes his damp hair off his equally wet forehead. "Gross, Grace. You're sweating like a pig," she teases wrinkling her nose down at him. He chuckles, but when she continues to twirls her fingers in his hair, he just smiles serenely.

"You brought a book?" he asks suddenly.

"How did you know?"

"You always do."

Her gut clenches at the painful reminder, but she pushes it away, choosing to enjoy the moment with him. "You know me too well, Jason Grace," she murmurs.

His smile returns and he begins to hum too. "Can you read to me?"

Laughing, she stretches towards the basket, and draws it closer to her. Pulling out the book, she turns to the first chapter. "Late in the winter of my seventeenth year, my mother decided I was depressed…"

Jason laces his fingers together on top of his chest and breathes deeply. The smile never leaves his face and as she continues to read she feels him relax, and his breathing even out, until he falls asleep. She watches him for a few moments, sadness pulling at her heartstrings. _This was how it was supposed to be. This was how it would have been if you'd chosen me_ , she thinks. She has to suddenly swallow past a large lump in her throat, and blink a few times to clear the blurriness of her vision.

Taking a deep breath, she continues to read. When she has to blink too aggressively to prevent herself from falling asleep, she shakes Jason awake.

"Huh," he mumbles. Looking up, he smiles. "Oh hi."

"Hi," she whispers quietly. He looks up at her and she tries to push down the sudden lump again, but he knows her too well, and suddenly he's sitting up and pulling her into his arms, and her face is buried in the crook of his neck, and she's feeling so overwhelmed from all this pent up emotion. He doesn't say anything – just holds her close and caresses her back in a hypnotic up-and-down movement. She swallows back her tears, determined to reign in her emotions until he's gone. When she feels like she's calmed down enough, she pulls back and smiles up at him. "Thank you."

He smiles back, gives her cheek a gentle stroke, and pulls away.

"We should be getting back. You still need to make me dinner."

He scoffs. " _We_ still need to make dinner."

She huffs, and he laughs at her, and when his eyes brighten, she feels a little bit better and so she manages a real smile. "Fiiinneee," she grumbles. "We'll make dinner when we get back."

They gather their things, and Reyna pulls the packet of cigarettes buried in the basket out. She lights one and offers another to Jason, who accepts it with a smirk. She takes a long pull, and feels the familiar smoke fill up her lungs, then breathes it back out, enjoying the heady sensation. They don't talk on their way back – both of them feel the strain of sadness as they know that time's running out for them.

When they get back, Reyna excuses herself for a shower, and Jason nods sleepily, saying he'll just lie down on the couch for a while. They both know that neither of them is up for cooking right now, so she just throws her phone at him, and tells him to order something.

He must have done it as soon as she left because when she steps out of her bedroom twenty minutes later, the elevator doors are dinging open and the wide-eyed delivery boy is handing Jason a paper bag of food, mouth open in wonder at the luxury of her apartment. Jason pays, and the boy's eyes go even wider at all the cash in his hands. "Keep the change," she hears him tell the young boy who whispers a reverent thank you before heading back into the elevator.

He turns around and smiles quizzically at her. She realizes she's been wearing a dreamy little smile, and quickly wipes it off, clearing her throat loudly.

"So whad'ya get?"

He smiles as he walks over to her. Tucking the bag under his right arm, he takes her right hand with his left and guides her over to the fireplace, blazing with warm, orange flames. On the plush rug lay two plates with a knife and fork set out beside each. A napkin lie in each plate and between them, a vase of flowers and a bottle of champagne. She looks up, and she realizes that he's dimmed the lights. When it dawns on her what he's really doing, she gasps and her eyes go wide. She pulls her hand away quickly. "Jason, we can't. It's too -"

"I know," he says sadly, his head hung low, his eyes cast to the floor. Lifting his eyes back up to her, he offers her his hand again and says, "Just one last time."

Oh god she wants this. She wants this perfect, romantic night with him. She wants to live in this moment forever. So against her better judgement, she takes his hand, and solemnly, he leads her to her seat on the floor.

When they're both seated, he begins to pull dishes from the paper bag. "Kinda ruins the mood, huh? The take-out bag," he says with a sheepish grin.

"I'll pretend you cooked it," she says with a playful smile.

"That _we_ cooked it Reyna!"

She rolls her eyes, even as she lets out a bemused laugh. "Fine."

He takes her salad plate and lays some of the fresh Ceasar salad onto it. Onto her dinner plate, he spoons some chicken alfredo and places a slice of garlic bread next to it. She watches his quiet, easy movements, finding them beautiful and hypnotic. This boy is an artist's dream and she feels like she could just sit here and watch him all day.

He suddenly flicks his eyes up at her, and her heart skips a beat, not at being caught, but by how clear and incandescent his blue eyes are. Her heart skips a beat because when his blue eyes meet hers, they send a jolt down her spine and she has to fight to smother the shiver she can feel racking her body. She closes her eyes, and she suddenly remembers how dark his eyes can go when they're filled with need and hunger, and… _fuck._

"Reyna, are you okay?" She opens her eyes and gives him a haughty look. But he knows her tells so he smirks. "You're biting your lip." _Fuck_. Quickly, she straightens up, and shakes her head. "I'm good," she manages to say.

He licks his lips as he regards her with those sparkling blue eyes that she knows she could lose herself in. "Mmm-hmmm," he teases, handing her plate back to her. After he fills his own plate, he pops the bottle of champagne, the bubbly foam leaking onto her rug ("You're buying me a new rug, Grace!"), and proceeds to fill their glasses.

Giving her an apologetic smile, he says, "See? I knew you had champagne in here somewhere."

"We all cope in our ways," she replies with a tiny smirk.

He raises his eyebrows at her but doesn't reply. "Well bon appetite!" he finally says, raising his fork in an exaggerated flourish.

Reyna digs in – hunger clawing at her stomach. She savours the first bite. "Mmmmm. Why Mr. Grace. You are an exquisite cook."

"Please, Ms. Ramirez. You must give yourself some credit."

"I am quite good, aren't I?"

He laughs, and once again she finds herself feeling her heart lift in response. She picks up her glass and takes a sip, peering up at him from under her lashes. He looks up suddenly at her, and she feels her heart skip a beat because under his glasses, his eyes look just a little blacker than they did a few moments ago. He quickly looks back down, picking up his own glass and taking a quick sip. She looks back down at her food, trying to get her mind to concentrate on the food and not on the beautiful man sitting across from her.

He sets his glass back down and clears his throat loudly. "So, who's James?"

She feels as if her stomach has just fallen out of her. She takes a careful bite of her alfredo before asking, "Why do you ask?"

"Only because he texted whilst I was ordering the food."

"A lot of people text me Jason," she replies carefully avoiding his eyes.

"Well I know that. But see this one was particularly interesting. He just wanted to know how his love was doing and whether or not he could take you out somewhere tonight – somewhere romantic."

She feels a blush creep up her neck from embarrassment. "God Jason! You don't read people's private messages!"

He chuckles and raises his hands in surrender. "Hey! I'm sorry. It was just right there on your screen. You shoulda thought about that before you gave me your phone."

"Ok fine. You read it. But do not judge him!"

"I'm not." He glances quickly at her before saying, "It's not really your style though."

"Totally judging."

"Come on Rey! Calling you my love, isn't it a little pretentious?"

She shrugs. "It can be suffocating sometimes. But sometimes it's nice. It's a nice reminder that you matter." She doesn't fully know why she's even telling him all of this right now, only that it feels right. Perhaps it has to do with this pathetic farewell party they're throwing themselves.

"Oh. I didn't know you felt that way." Quieter, he adds, "Apparently there's a lot I didn't know about you."

"Still know more than most people do," she points out matter-of-factly.

He beams up at her, but quickly looks back down at his plate.

"Sorry, shouldn't have done that," he mutters. She eyes him bemusedly. "It's just that it makes me a little proud to know I'm still the one who knows you best." He gives her a grin that's part apologetic, part sheepish, but one that also looks so damn proud.

Shaking her head, she presses her lips together to push back her smile. It makes her happy too, but she can't encourage him because it's too late. "Starting tomorrow I think you should start grooming someone else for that job."

He eyes her a bit defiantly, but then his shoulders sag. "I suppose so."

"Okay."

"Good."

They pick at their food for a few more minutes until Jason asks quietly, "So was he the one? From the other night?"

She nods without looking up.

"But you said… you said you're still in love with me. Does that mean you don't love him?"

She sighs. Perhaps she's playing a dangerous game here but Jason has always been the one person she could talk to. "I want to." He raises his eyebrows at her clearly not satisfied with that answer. "But, yea. I don't. At least not yet," she admits in a resigned tone.

"Oh Reyna," he murmurs quietly. She meets his eyes to find them once again sad, and tinged with pity.

"Don't look at me like that!" she snaps. "I don't' need your pity. Won't fix a damn thing!"

"I'm sorry," he says lowering his eyes again. "You know, I do want you to be happy. I'm not trying to stop you from falling in love."

She sighs tiredly. "I know. That's why I think this… break we're taking is a good idea. It's why I need it," she finishes a bit desperately, hoping he'd understand.

"I understand," he replies quietly, meeting her eyes once again, and relief floods her chest when she sees that he means it.

"Thank you." He nods in response.

They go back to their food and once the awkwardness from that conversation wears off, they pick up right back where they left off. When he finishes his dinner, Jason props himself up on his left elbow, stretching his legs out, and looks up at her.

Noticing the intensity of his gaze, she asks, "What?"

Tilting his head, he says, "You're beautiful you know."

She huffs, and swats her napkin at him. "You always say that."

"I know. But it's just… I started thinking about how your boyfriend-" she gives him a sharp look, "- excuse me – James might see you."

She gives him another pointed look before piling the plates on top of one another and picking them up. She gets up and heads towards the kitchen.

She hears the clinking of glasses and the rustle of shifting clothes, and then the quiet pad of feet behind her. She places the dishes in the sink and turns on the pipe whilst Jason lays his own in the one next to her. He turns so that he faces her.

"I mean does he see what I used to see?"

"No. You're not objectifying me!" She turns her head towards him, intending to glare at him, but she falters when she sees the way he's looking at her.

"It wasn't just your body that I loved Reyna," he whispers quietly. "I want you to know that."

The lilt in his voice is doing more to her brain than the champagne – it's making her warm, and her brain feels the start of that headiness she gets when she smokes a few cigarettes one right after the other. She bites her lip again, and manages to breathe, "Then what did you see?"

He looks down at her and his lips pull up into a dreamy half smile before he says, "I loved your smile. Seeing your beautiful, full lips turned up was a huge turn on." As he talks, he raises his hand to her lips and his thumb begins to trace out their outline with something that feels like pure devotion. "Sometimes just one side would slide up in a small polite smile, or a sexy smirk. But I loved the big goofy smiles you saved just for me best. Those made me crazy. That's when I knew you were giving all of yourself to me, and I'd be gone. I just knew that I had to give all of myself right back. And I never knew if I did, but I tried. God, Reyna I tried so hard!" His voice is pleading as his eyes flick up to hers, and his hand moves along her jaw until his fingers thread into her hair just behind her ear.

"I felt it," she murmurs.

"Good."

"What else?"

Both their voices are quiet and strained, as if it costs them so much more breath just to form one syllable than it did moments before to form entire paragraphs.

"I loved your eyes. How they would glow with a warm fire when you looked at me, because I was yours and you were mine, and I knew you loved me. I loved when they went hazy like liquid honey when the world narrowed to just me and you. When we were both gone. Lost in each other, filling up the entire space of the other's infinity."

She closes her eyes, and she feels him step just an inch closer – but not close enough to press her body against him. His fingers are kneading comforting circles into the base of her neck now, and she starts to hum.

"I remember that."

"I loved the way you smelt – like vanilla and coffee because you worked at that coffee shop where all the local college kids used to go." She giggles, and a proud, happy smile lights up his face.

"That smile. That's the one I love." He moves closer so she can feel his breath on her face and she's dying to close the space but she knows she can't, but she knows where this is going, and she also knows that even if she could, she wouldn't stop it. She'll say fuck the world and pick up the pieces later.

"I loved your fuck-me hair and how it looked when it fell down your back – like you'd been hidden away and had finally found your freedom. I especially loved how wild and messy it looked after. I loved the feel of your skin," he continues, now running his hands down her shoulders and down her back, "how soft it was. I used to like watching how I could press my fingers into it and seeing the little indentations that would take nano seconds to pop back up. I loved seeing the little goosebumps I'd leave in the wake of my kisses."

His fingers wrap around her hips and he pulls her in gently, giving her chance to resist if she wants to. But she knows she's already too far gone, so she doesn't. When she's finally pressed against his chest, he says, "I loved every sound you made whether you screamed or groaned or whimpered…"

He flicks his eyes up to her and she shivers when she sees how dark they've become. How dark are her eyes? Can he see just how much she wants him? God she wants – _needs_ – this so bad. He leans his head down - tilting it slightly to the right - slowly, carefully, watching her for resistance but how can she resist? She's so hooked – addicted to this beautiful man who makes her feel _alive._ Suddenly she can't fathom how she managed to get through the last years without him, how she thought she could ever live without the way he's looking at her and holding her right this moment.

Finally, _finally,_ with excruciating slowness, he presses his lips to hers – gentle and chaste – but even that tiny touch makes her forget to breathe. Oh god, yes. In this moment she realizes that really she's an addict. She's addicted to _him_ and when she'd lost him, she'd tried others looking for the same high, but nothing could compare. He is her high, he is everything.

She presses her fingertips into his hips and closes her eyes wanting to focus on how he tastes and feels. She'd forgotten how soft they could be. Forgotten that he tasted like the rarest wine they'd once stolen out of his dad's cellar – sweet with a sharp tinge. He was her high and she loved every second of it. He sucks on her bottom lip, and then bites down ruefully. The whimper she lets out is drowned out by his own groan. He wraps his arms tighter around her, pressing their bodies much closer together. One hand moves up into her hair to cradle the back of her head, whilst the other rubs circles into the small of her back. Foreheads press against each other – his glasses pressing into the bridge of her nose when their noses brush - and he nuzzles her. He pushes his tongue into her mouth, slowly and gently, like he's experimenting with her for the first time. She lets him take his time because she wants to go slow. She wants to savour every moment, every touch, every taste. She wants to remember every single detail with perfect clarity because this moment will have to carry her through for the rest of her life.

The hand that's rubbing circles moves to cup her chin, tilting her head back just a tiny bit so they can both manoeuver a bit better. His tongue flicks across her own and she shivers and perhaps it's her reaction that encourages him, because now his tongue is roaming around in her mouth in a way that makes her think he's trying to etch the way she tastes onto his own tongue so that he can carry _her_ around forever. That thought warms her heart and encouraged, she flicks her own tongue back into his mouth, eliciting a groan from the blonde. Now both hands are pushed into her hair gripping it tightly, but not painfully, as if he needs to anchor himself down to her. Their tongues beat together for a few moments until they both pull apart for air. She can't help but whine at the loss of contact, but his brows are furrowed and he's making to lean back in when she grabs his wrists and says, "Wait. Jason, wait."

His breathing is ragged and he pulls back to look her in the eyes. She takes a deep breath. "We won't be able to take this back," she whispers. Her fingers move to the top buttons of his shirt, toying with them nervously.

"Reyna," his voice is breathy and ragged as if he's just run a mile. "I want this. Fuck, I want this so bad." He tightens his grip in her hair and presses their foreheads together. "I want you. All of you. Again. One last time. Please."

She knows she shouldn't, but her inhibitions were shot so long ago, her sense so gone that she's surprised she managed to even get this out. "Jason," she breathes, bringing brown eyes up to meet midnight blue ones, "Make love to me." Her voice catches and the "please" she utters comes out as a broken sob.

But that's all it takes to drive Jason over the edge and he's suddenly crashing their lips together, mouths hungry and wanting. Tongues beat against each other, dancing together in a sort of animalistic frenzy. She groans, reaches up to take off his glasses, puts them on the counter, and then clutch desperately at his hips, trying to remove any possible space between them.

She can feel his erection growing, and how he strains against his pants. A groan rises from her chest and gets lost in Jason's mouth and she grinds her own hips against his. She's deeply satisfied that she can leave him this hot and wanting and needy. She continues to roll her hips against him, but the layer of clothes between them might as well be a wall. So she clumsily scrabbles at his shirt buttons, miraculously managing to undo them, and pushes it off his shoulders. She hastily pulls his grey undershirt over his head, and he does the same with hers, not wanting to have to break away from the kiss again. Frantic lips meet, and now she's fumbling with the belt and buttons of his jeans, and finally she manages to work his jeans down his ass. She digs her nails into its softness and Jason jumps, but he chuckles against their lips.

"You always liked it rough baby," he murmurs.

She licks his lips playfully and pushes her tongue back into his mouth. Her hands move over his hips, and finally she brushes her fingers over his length, earning a shaky gasp from the blonde. She smiles slyly against his mouth and pulls back so she can look at him.

"Jason," she breathes. She wants him to look at her and see the way she's looking at him. Wants him to see all the desire and need and lust that only he can awaken in her.

"Mmmm-hmmm."

"Look at me," she orders. He responds to her tone and blue eyes fly open to meet brown. He sees every intention in those brown eyes and it makes him groan.

She wraps her right hand around his member and brushes her thumb against his tip. He shudders and closes his eyes. "Oh god Reyna," he somehow manages to gasp. She smiles to herself and rubs circles around the slit, making him moan deeply. She moves her attention to the rest of him and begins to fist him – up and down – starting slow, and with excruciating care and slowness begins to build a gradual tempo. She can't believe that he could get any harder, but he is, and purple veins begin to stand out against the flesh. He's shaking so hard now, head tilted back, eyes closed, mouth open unable to produce any more sounds. He's so gone and she's the one who brought him here. She lets go and he _whimpers_ at the loss, but she pushes the other hand into his hair so that she can push his head down and press their lips together. The fingers of her right hand continue to feather over his member making him whimper into her mouth.

She kisses him for a moment then moves her lips down to his chin, and licks along his jawline. She sucks along his neck, careful not to suck too long to leave any marks, then continues down his chest, pausing to lick at his nipples. When she bites down on them, Jason can't stop the greedy "Ugh" from spilling past his lips. She smiles, but pulls her lips away from them and continues down his abs, right hand fingers never ceasing their teasing caress.

Finally, she's stooped in front of him, and she finally gets to pulls his pants down to his ankles. His erection stands straight up, tip blue and strained and wet with pre-come. She presses feather light kisses along its length and she hears him mutter frantically, "Oh god. Yes. Oh Reyna. Oh baby. Oh god."

"Do you want me to make you come in my mouth Jason?" she demands.

He looks down at her, blue eyes shot black, frantic and hungry and so far gone. "Pllleaaasse," he barely manages to beg. She flicks her tongue against his tip, tasting the saltiness of his pre-come.

"What was that?"

"Please Reyna," he gasps, eyes now screwed up.

"Please Reyna, what?"

"Please Rey-Reyna. Let me c-c-c-come in your mouth," he stutters out. She flicks her tongue once more across his head, and he groans. Body shaking, hands clutching tightly at the counter pressed against his back. "Please Reyna."

God, hearing him beg for such dirty things is bringing every nerve in her body to life, making her feel extra sensitive and alive. His voice is thick with lust and it's so fucking sexy that she starts to feel a wetness between her legs. Wrapping her hands around his ass, she first takes the tip into her mouth, experimenting with the feel and taste. Then she pushes a little further and then a little more. She pulls back dragging her tongue across its length on the retreat. Then she pushes back in and takes a little more of him into her mouth.

"Unf. Oh _yes_ ," he breathes. She keeps at it for a while, taking a bit more of him into her mouth each time. But then she starts building a tempo, in-out faster and deeper, followed by languid licks. And he's shaking again and she can feel that he's so close to coming undone.

Pulling back one last time, she murmurs just loud enough for him to hear, "Jason, let go. Let go for me baby." He groans and she pulls him back into her mouth, this time using her hands for the parts of him that she can't fit. And she only has to suck him off for a bit more before he's gasping and shuddering and coming, hot and salty, straight into her throat. She swallows around him, and he moans, breathy and ragged. Giving him a few more licks, she pulls back finally and begins to trails kisses back up to his mouth. Swollen red lips meet pick soft ones and he's still breathing hard coming down from the euphoria of his orgasm. But he's wrapping her up tightly and pulling hungrily at her lips like he just can't get enough, just can't get enough.

Finally, he pulls away and presses their foreheads together. "And to think, you're still half dressed," he whispers.

She giggles and grinds her hips against his again and he groans. He pulls her mouth back to his and she feels the heat radiating from the chest pressed against her almost naked one. She feels the soft tips of fingers run up her back and start to fumble with the clasp of her bra.

But she has a sudden idea. She pulls back from him and smiles slyly at him once again. He's confused – eyebrows furrowed quizzically – and he's leaning back down trying to reconnect their lips, but she pulls out of his arms.

"Reyna -"

"Shhhh," she murmurs. He actually whines – hearing how badly he wants her _again_ makes her so damn hot – but she holds out. She presses their lips back together momentarily, and he's using his teeth to try to pull her back in, but she laughs and pulls back away. "You're just so greedy aren't you?"

A sloppy, embarrassed smile appears on his face, and he giggles nervously. "I just can't seem to get enough of you."

Her breathing catches momentarily – the confession both a turn-on and a painful reminder that she can never really have him even though she feels the exact same way.

Pressing a kiss to his cheek she whispers, "Wait here," and backs away from him, never taking her eyes off of him. Despite leaving him standing alone, his eyes are dark and staring hungrily at her, and she can't help biting her lips. His lips part and a silent groan passes between them.

Smirking, she finally turns her back to him and makes her away over to her stereo. _What to play?_ She's looking for something soft and sultry, and _ah this'll do_.

The sound of plucked guitar strings begins to play over the wireless speakers placed in several corners of her apartment. She walks back over to the kitchen to find Jason has turned off the forgotten tap, stepped out of his pants and underwear, and is now leaning casually against the counter. He sees her, and the left side of his lip pulls up in a half smirk as if to say, "Well?"

She goes straight up to him, standing just far enough so that their bodies aren't touching. He straightens and looks down at her to find her staring at his pecs. Slowly, she raises her eyes to him.

 _Her eyes and words are so icy_

 _Oh, but she burns, like rum on a fire_

She lets the music guide her as she moves her body around him: arms around his chest, around his head, eyes never leaving his face. He can't take his eyes off of her – she's an exquisite dancer – just as he couldn't back when they were in high school and he'd first seen her dance on stage.

Turning around, she pushes her back against him, does a body roll into a fan kick, turns around and hooks her leg around his knee and leans back, letting her head fall back, exposing her graceful neck and pressing their hips together. She pulls back up slowly and takes a moment to just breathe open mouthed and stare him straight in the eyes and she can see how hooked he is, how he's hanging onto her every movement. She bites her lip and he groans, but he doesn't put his hands on her, too enchanted by this beautiful goddess before him.

She turns and does several shanay turns out of the kitchen and even without looking back she knows he's following her. Shanays turn into piqués turn into pirouettes – double, triple, quadruple – into a standstill taking a moment to breathe.

 _Blood is rare and sweet as cherry wine._

Her back is to him but she can feel his eyes boring into her. She brushes her hands up her back until her fingers fasten around her bra clasp, and slowly undoes it. She pulls the straps off her shoulder and lets it fall to the ground and she hears a small gasp come from behind her.

She ignores him and continues dancing. Arms are thrown up, brought down, fingers clutch at her forehead, others around her waist, right leg sweeps back, toes pointed, then back straight up, fists clutched at hips, head, held high. Pirouette down to the ground, back pressed against the floor, knees up to the ceiling, she pops her hips, then swings her right leg around into a split. Her muscles are powerful and flexible, and she moves with the grace of a swan. Eyes closed, lips slightly parted, lost in the music.

She pulls up but only a little so her legs are still stretched out, rolls her shoulders back, and then pops them straight back. She twists left, rolls to the ground and brings her left leg into an attitude, then brings it under her and tucks it to the right to stretch out beside the right leg. She drags her feet, pointed toes grazing the floor, knees popped to the ceiling. She arches her back and breathes deeply, accentuating the rise and fall of her chest. Then she cartwheels back, toes pointed and feet arched, to stand straight again.

 _Blood is rare and sweet as cherry wine_.

She stalks toward him slowly, fists clenched at her hips, chest pushed out, shoulders pressed back. Right leg crosses in front of left - pointed toes leading the way - then left crosses in front of right. She stops just short of him, crosses her hands over her stomach, and then hooks her fingers into the waistline of her short pyjama pants and panties and pushes downward, fingers scraping suggestively against her legs. She looks up from under brown lashes to find him staring down at her, blue irises shot black. Stepping out of the clothes, she remains stopped, stretching her left leg out with the right knee bent to the front. Rolling her ribs to the right, she pulls straight up, left leg shooting up into a leg extension, balancing on her right toes. Her lines are artistically exquisite and her legs seem to go on forever. Bringing her left leg back down, she hooks it around his right hip, and pulls herself up around him, right leg sticking out straight behind him. She's pleased to find that he's once again rock hard pressing against her stomach when he wraps his arms around her waist.

They don't break eye contact and their faces are so close together that their breaths flow from one to the other in an infinite cycle. Wrapping her right leg around him she uncoils her left and kicks it back into an arabesque then swings herself around him to stand behind him. She stands there for a few moments letting her breath flow onto the hollow between his shoulder blades. Then she drags her right hand across his shoulders from left to right, down to his right arm to his elbow and pushes it up to right angle. Snaking her right forearm under his, she lines up their wrists then pushes his own up. She presses their palms together then intertwines their fingers. Rolling her head under his arm, she rolls back up so that his arm is resting on her shoulder. Crosses her left leg in front of his right and wraps his arm around her waist. She wraps her left around his left hip and pushes it to sway with her own twice before turning into his embrace, and bringing his left arm around her.

 _Her fight and fury's fiery_

 _Oh but she loves_

 _Like sleep to the freezing_

Her arms wrap around his neck, presses their foreheads together, and they sway together for a few more moments, whilst the last strains of the music play out. When she rocks her hips against his erection, he groans, but when he finally touches their lips, it's not hurried and greedy. It's soft and pleading as if he's saying, "Please let me have you. All of you."

 _The_ _way she shows me I'm hers and she's mine_

 _Open hand or closed fist would be fine_

 _Blood is rare and sweet as cherry wine._

"You already do baby," she whispers. "You already have all of me."

He makes a wounded noise in the back of his throat before claiming her mouth and deepening the kiss. He bends her back and slides his right arm under her knees, then picks her up bridal style and begins to carry her towards the bedroom, never pulling his mouth away from hers.

Soon he's laying her on her back on the bed and climbing over her, his knees between hers. But he doesn't press his body down on top of her, and desperate to feel him again she clutches his hips to pull him down. He chuckles into her mouth and begins to pull away, but she keeps her mouth latched onto his. He still keeps pulling back, so her neck arches, back of her head pressed into the pillow. When he finally manages to pull away, she doesn't let her neck fall back but keeps it arched and he runs his hand over it.

"You're so fucking magnificent. Every curve, every line. It's like a sculptor designed you and then brought you to life." He bends down and brushes kisses down her neck, and it pulls a purr from her. She keeps her eyes closed, letting his touch fill up her senses. He runs his tongue up her neck, whilst rubbing his left hand up her side towards her breast. He's relentlessly slow though, and it makes her growl in frustration that he won't just touch her. But she has to admit that just the anticipation of his touch is driving her nuts, and his tongue and hands are leaving goosebumps in their trace.

She arches up into his hand and pulls her knees up around him. But he laughs against her neck – his breath tickling her.

Frustrated, she falls back against the bed. "What?" she demands.

"You're so fucking greedy. You just can't wait!"

"I'm greedy? You're fucking hard again and I just went down on you!"

He chuckles again and presses his hips down between her legs, and she moans – long and sweet. "I want you inside me."

"Not yet baby," he murmurs against her ear. She whines at his denial, and he rolls his hips against her once again, turning the whine into a whimper. He traces his lips back to hers and presses down against her mouth for just a moment before pulling away again. He starts tracing his lips down her neck again.

"I'm going to make you feel again Sunshine –" the nickname pulls a cry from the brunette and she arches back up against him. He bites down on her collarbone and flicks his tongue across it. "That's right. Sunshine, _my_ sunshine." Another cry. "I'm going to make you feel alive, _Sunshine_. Gonna take you to sun and let it burn everything away."

Hearing him call her by the nickname he'd given to her in high school is making her chest feel tight. Like her heart is growing too big for her chest, and she knows that no one will ever make her feel this way. Ever again.

His mouth finally brushes against the pad of her right breast, his right hand cupping her left. His breath is hot against her nipple and she can already feel it hardening. Suddenly he flicks his tongue against it, and her breathing hitches, her back arching so much that their stomachs collide. When she falls back against the bed, he presses his erection down between her legs again, and a ragged gasp escapes through her lips.

"Mmmm, can feel how wet you already are for me." She locks her legs around his hips and squeezes. The blonde groans. "Mmmm you already feel so damn good. And I'm not even inside you yet. Fuck."

She doesn't loosen her grip on his hips. "Then fuck me Jason."

"Mmmmm, no. You asked me to make love to you. And I am. But first I'm going to make you come with just my fingers."

A delicious shiver runs through her body and her skin suddenly heats up. He feels the change in her body and he smiles down at her. "You want that Sunshine. You want me to fuck you with my fingers?"

She nods.

"Excuse me, what was that?" he asks, mirroring her question.

She huffs out a hollow laugh. "You're quite ballsy when you're on - oooommmm."

He rolls his hips against her again, flicks his tongue against her right nipple, and strokes his thumb against her left cutting off her words. "What was that?"

She looks him straight in his eyes. "Fuck me with your fingers Jason," she whispers, a plead underlying it.

"That's right baby, that's right." he murmurs. "I'm going to take such good care of you tonight." He finally closes his lips around her right nipple, licking and sucking until it's swollen and standing taut and firm. Transferring his mouth to the left, he gives it the same attention, until both stand hard and erect. All she can do is lie helplessly, head pressed back into the pillow, whilst the blonde coaxes her body into wakefulness.

He raises his mouth back to hers, and kisses her deeply before rolling off of her and to her right. She feels a sudden coldness, and she tries to pull him back but he simply whispers, "No. I want to watch you."

She nods and doesn't look away, keeping her eyes locked on his. Propping himself up on his left elbow, he strokes her jaw, then her lips, and gently pushes his index and middle fingers into her mouth. She sucks on them for a while and then he pulls them away. Never taking his eyes off hers, he runs his hand down her neck, between her breasts, and down her stomach, all the while leaving goosebumps in his wake. Finally he comes to a stop between her legs and begins to rub circles over the lips.

"Mmmm, look how wet you are already. You're just so ready for me."

She can't trust herself to respond - her chest is rising a bit higher and her mind feels foggy. Just when she thinks she's going to come just from the teasing, he pushes the tip of his index finger inside her. The initial push stings a little, but soon the pain is fading and he's pushing deeper inside her. Slowly and gently, she can feel her muscles clenching around him, and it's such a delicious feeling. He pushes in and pulls out then pushes back in – a little bit deeper each time. When he brushes against her clit, she jumps, her breath catching in her throat, and she has to press her eyes close. "Mmm," she moans.

He circles his finger around her clit – once, twice, thrice – before pulling out, make her groan from the need to feel him. She looks back at him – eyes angry and accusing.

"Shhhh baby. Don't worry, I'll take care of it," he murmurs. This time when he pushes back in, he adds the middle finger. And it feels so fucking _good_ to have _his_ fingers inside of her. To have _him_ do this to her. Anyone else can try touching her this way and it doesn't feel the same way. It's _his_ fingers, and _his_ tongue, and _his_ lips, and _his_ body that makes her feel this way – alive and loved and free. _He_ is the only one who can take her to the sun and let her fly.

He circles, strokes up down, and massages, slow and fast then slow again, and she can't even find the breath to groan. All that can escape through her lips are broken, ragged breaths. She's had to hook her right arm under his forearm –nails digging into his bicep - the other clutching tightly at the rails of her headboard to try and keep herself anchored.

Her mind's getting fuzzier, and it feels far away. She feels light headed and dazed, and all she can think about is Jason and his fingers in her and the way he's bringing her to life. And she can't help thinking, _Please don't ever stop making me feel this way. Please wake up in the morning and tell me you'll stay with me. Please stay with me. Please,_ even though she knows tomorrow it'll only break her further.

A deep thrust causes her to gasp – he's hit her G-spot. And she's writhing under him, her hips rolling up to meet his hand trying to push his fingers deeper. "Jason," she breathes.

"That's right Sunshine. You like that?"

"Mmmhh."

"What do you want Sunshine. Tell me, I'll give it to you."

A cry rips from her throat. "Harder."

He pushes harder hooking his fingers against the sweet spot. "Like that?"

Her back is pushing up from the bed. "Deeper."

He pushes deeper. "Are you going to come Sunshine?"

"Yeeeesssss," she breathes.

He pushes in and pulls out – faster and deeper. Her body breaks out into sweat and she can feel her inner thighs shaking. Her body is pulsing – like a wave rolling up from her hips up through her stomach and straight to her chest. The pulsing gets faster and her body's heating up – she feels like she's burning – and her vision is so bright, like the sun is burning under her lids. He gives one last powerful push and she's exploding around his fingers – a million fireballs going off in her pelvis and brightening behind her eyelids.

He presses their lips together absorbing the last of her cries, his fingers still lost in her body, bringing her back down. When he finally pulls out, she whimpers in his mouth – her body feeling suddenly empty even as it still rocks from the ecstacy.

"It's okay baby," he murmurs against her lips. "It's okay." He wraps her up in his arms, pressing kisses to her forehead and cheeks and neck and shoulders.

"I want more Jason," she complains.

He chuckles against her right collarbone. "Greedy, greedy, greedy," he teases in between soft bites to her shoulder. "But you looked so damn beautiful. You should have seen how dark your eyes were, and your beautiful mouth swollen and red and open and you were so damn gone. And I made you come undone," he boasts proudly.

Her heart gives a funny twitch, but she swallows, pushing it back down. She opts instead to hook her fingers into his hair and pulls his mouth back to hers. This time when they kiss it's slow, deep, and languid. He moves back on top of her, pressing their hips together, and cupping her face between his big hands and she feels something shift. Suddenly it's like the kiss is saying all the things they're afraid to admit out loud.

 _I loved you._

 _I loved you too._

 _I think I might still love you._

 _I still love you._

 _I can't stay._

 _I want you to stay._

 _I can't._

 _Please._

Sob. But she's not sure whose.

 _When did I start thinking I stopped loving you?_

 _When did I start believing you didn't love me?_

 _Why did I let you go?_

 _Why did you let me go?_

 _Why didn't you fight for me?_

 _Why did I have to fight? Why wasn't I good enough for you?_

She feels thick, hot tears run down her cheeks, and he's brushing them away. And when more continue to fall, he kisses those away. But more continue to pour down, and soon his own are mixing with hers, and she's wiping away his, and they're whimpering into each other's mouths. Perhaps they both feel the pressure of time – time's running out for them, their deadline creeping up on them like some dreadful predator.

She feels his erection press against her stomach and she pulls her knees up around him. He pulls away from her just long enough to fumble for the box of condoms he'd found this morning, grab one, pull it out of its package and pull it over himself. Then he's reattaching their mouths and she's raising her hips and he's angling the tip into her.

And slowly, as he'd done with his fingers, he begins to slide into her. Her ankles cross at the base of his spine and they move together. Slow and languid, each hip roll exaggerated to make every move count. There's no rush for release – they just want to enjoy being wrapped up in each other.

She feels so content with him inside her, feeling him fill her up. She feels whole, like he was made to fit her - fit _inside_ her - and she's wishing so hard that he could just stay there forever.

He's thinking that she feels so right around him – the way her body clenches around him is perfect – so snug, so tight, like she was made just for him.

It's silent. Whatever noise they make is absorbed into the throat of the other. Hips writhe in sync – up and down in harmony – cries echo back from one mouth to the other, fingers intertwined above her head, bodies pressed together, eyes glazed, minds lost in each other. Time and space lose meaning. Jason is her entire world – the feel of his body as he presses down against her, the taste of his mouth inside her, the feel of him _inside_ her – and it's all that matters. She could probably live off of him for the rest of her life. This is all she needs to feel alive and whole. Reyna is his entire world – he's so lost in her body, in her mouth, in her world. How did he live so long without her?

But soon the slowness gives way to primal need and their hips begin to jerk faster. He pushes deeper, finding her g-spot again and she growls into his mouth. With each powerful thrust she's flying closer and closer to the sun, until she's close enough to touch it. And now it's burning everything away, her name and identity, until all she can think and feel is Jason. Jason is all she knows and he's the sun and he's making her body explode into a million molecules, robbing her of everything but his name and his identity. So when she comes, the only thing that spills out of her mouth is his name, coming out as a broken sob.

And maybe that pushes him over the edge, because he's coming now. She can feel him coming undone inside her, letting go, and filling her up. "Rey- Reyna," he gasps into her mouth and now she really wishes he didn't have the condom on so he could really spill himself inside her and she could carry him around.

He stays inside her whilst they both come down from their highs. But soon he's pulling out again, and this time the emptiness is worse – like someone dug a hole in her stomach and forgot to fill it back up.

He flops onto his back on her right, his chest heaving and his breathing harsh. She stretches out her right hand to take his left, but he rolls away from her and off the bed. She tries not to feel hurt by that – tries to, but fails.

He makes his way to the bathroom and shuts the door behind him. A little while later she can hear water falling, and she turns on her left side, pulling her knees up to her chest, and the blanket over her. When he comes back out a few minutes later, she pretends to be asleep. He pretends to believe her and says nothing as he closes the bedroom door behind him. Five minutes later, she hears the elevator doors ding open.

Hot, thick tears begin to chase each other down her jerks awake when her phone suddenly blares loudly from her nightstand. Her right hand slaps around the table for a few seconds trying to find it. Finally, she manages to grab it and without opening her eyes, she presses the answer button.

"Hello?" she croaks, her voice distant and low.

"You're still sleeping? At 9 in the morning? Whhhhaaaaaaatttt?!"

She groans. "Why are you calling me so early?"

"This is a new record. I'm up and you're not! I'm high-fiving myself." She hears a distant clap in the background and she can see his blue eyes sparkling with amusement.

"Go away Jason. I'm sleeping!" she grumbles. She moves to hang up and maybe he senses that because he shouts, "Wait, wait! I actually need to talk to you."

"You've waited four days. You can wait a few more hours. Bye."

"Reyna." She can hear him rolling his eyes in his tone.

"What? It's Saturday. I don't ever get to sleep in. Leave me alone."

He chuckles. "You're pouting aren't you?"

"No!" She is. That just makes him laugh. "Go away Jason."

"No. You're already awake. Talk to me."

"I've been talking to you. You're the one who was refusing to talk to me!"

"I got over it."

"Clearly."

"I can't stay mad at you."

"Obviously."

"What are you doing today?"

"I-" the question catches her off guard. Suspicious, she asks. "Why are you asking?"

"Because…" her bedroom door is pushed open and she hears footsteps on the hardwood floor. "You and I are in desperate need of some quality friend bonding time," he replies from the doorway of her room.

She groans and pushes her face into the pillow. "It's too early for this shit," is the muffled reply.

She feels the right side of the bed sag as he climbs onto it – left knee first. He bends over her and whispers in her ear. "Reyyyynnna. Wake up. Reyyyna. Reyna," he sings.

His breath tickles her right ear, and she scrunches up her nose in the pillow. "Mmmmmmmm!" she complains.

His crooning falters and he starts to chuckle. "Come on Rey! You're wasting precious time."

"Mmmmmmm." Her lungs begin to protest and she pulls her face out of the compression. Turning her head to the left, she keeps her eyes squeezed shut.

"Reynaaaa." When she doesn't respond, he presses on. "Reyna. You are my sunshine, my only sunshine," he begins to sing.

"Mmm-mmm. Stop!" she pleads.

"You make me happyyyy when skies are greeeeyyyy," he continues, voice growing louder with each syllable.

She pulls the right end of the pillow over her ear trying to block out his voice. His voice breaks as he laughs, but he keeps going. "You'll never knooooow deaaaarrrrr how much I loooovvveee you," he croons. Climbing over her so his knees are on either side of her, he pokes her in her left rib. She squirms, and he pokes her again, this time in the right, making her twitch again. "Please don't takkkeee my sunshine awaaaaayyyy." He begins to tickle her more purposefully now – in her sides, under her neck, and her toes – making her shudder violently. She presses her face back into the pillow trying to stifle a laugh, but when she can't force it back any longer she turns onto her back, laughing hysterically. She pulls her legs up to her chest and tries to swat Jason's hands away. But he just chuckles gleefully and asks, "Are you awake now? Huh?" punctuating every question mark with a gentle poke.

"Jason! Stop, please," she begs, trying to grab his hands to hold them still. But he avoids her, and now pokes her in her belly, and her giggling escalates uncontrollably. She pulls her knees more tightly to her chest trying to protect herself, her sides hurting from laughing. "Seriously, it- it hu- hurts. I ca-can't breathe any-any- anymore. OOOOPPPP!" she yelps, when Jason jabs her again in the right rib.

"Are you awake?" he asks innocently.

"Yes. Yes. Yes," she gasps, raising her hands in surrender. "I'm awake." He grins triumphantly and flops down on her left.

Turning her head to him she asks, "What are you doing here?"

Closing his eyes behind square rimmed glasses, a contented smile on his face, he replies, "Spending all day with you of course."

"Jason. You can't."

"Says who?"

"Says me." After a pause, she murmurs quietly, "And probably Piper."

Jason opens his eyes and looks at her with raised eyebrows. "You know I'm not married to her yet."

"No. But you will be. In…" She does a mental count, "three weeks."

"Right. In three weeks I'll be married and I'll be a husband with a home and a wife and soon kids. I won't have any time! So until then, I plan to enjoy every moment of freedom I have left."

"Jason. You need to be with Piper right now. You have a wedding to plan!"

"Piper's meeting her mom and the wedding planner today. They don't need me."

"Of course she needs you doofus."

"Nah. She won't ask for my opinion."

"A: I'm pretty sure that's not true. And b: even if she doesn't, she still wants you to be there."

"Reyna! It's okay. We talked about me not being there today! We are both okay with this," he replies in a nonchalant way.

His tone makes her suspicious. Narrowing her eyes, she demands, "And what exactly did you say you were doing today?"

"I said I was catching up with an old friend."

"An old friend? Did you mention said old friend's name?"

"Reyna," he scoffs, "of course I did."

"Mmmm-hmmmm. And your fiancée was okay with you ditching wedding planning to spend all-day with your… _female_ best friend?"

"Ummm… I may have been mum on the specifics of how much time we're actually spending together."

She pulls the pillow out from under her head and smashes it onto his face. "God, you're such an asshole."

Pulling the pillow away, he says, "Better to ask forgiveness than permission. If I'd been explicit about my real intentions perhaps she might have tried to shut me down."

"Because she also knows what we both know: that you spending all this time with me – alone and currently in my bed – is absolutely inappropriate."

"Reyna." He turns on his side and props his head up with his left palm so he can look down at her. "You fucking care too much what those shitheads say, you know that."

"Fuck off Grace!"

"No listen. You're my best friend. It shouldn't be like this. I should be able to spend time with you without people having to criticise."

"But they do!"

"Yea and fuck them. I care about you. You care about me. Why the fuck does anything else matter?"

She sighs and pulls back the pillow, stuffing it back under her head. "It'll matter to Piper. I don't want her feeling… threatened. Like there's anything…." She gestures at the space between them.

"Reyna, she knows that you're my best friend. She knows you're important to me. But she knows I love her. I proposed to her, didn't I?"

"If you were so sure you'd have told her exactly what your plans are for today."

"Well I don't have exact plans yet so I didn't exactly lie."

"A technicality. One I'm sure she'd looovvveee to have you explain."

He huffs loudly. "Ok are you just gonna waste the entire day explaining to me why I shouldn't be here? I'm already here, ok? So can we just move past the technicalities and move on to the part where I show you that I don't take you for granted?"

She pulls back so she can look at this whole face. "That's what this is about? Redeeming yourself?"

"Nope. This is about you. Showing you just how great a friend I think you are."

She sighs and relaxes back against the pillow. After a moment, she turns back to him. "Did you bring me breakfast?"

A huge grin lights up his face and he throws a fist up in the air. His jubilance causes a warm feeling to start unfolding from her core and she smiles – the first genuine one she's had in days. He jumps up on the bed. "Now we're talking sunshine." Then he hops to the floor and scurries out of the room. When he reaches the door, he pauses to turn back and say, "You wait right there Miss. I'll only be a moment."

He disappears, and she can hear dishes scrambling. Sure enough, a moment later he steps back into the bedroom holding a tray with a plate piled high with food and two coffee cups. "Breakfast m'lady," he says, bowing slightly.

She shakes her head and swallows a silly giggle. "Bed and breakfast? Hmm, I might have to keep you around, dear sir."

He grins at her again – a smile full of happiness and directed only to her that makes her breath catch and her stomach to flip suddenly.

"I hope you tip generously," he says making his way over to her bed.

"Ha! We both know you owe me big time Grace!" She sits up and moves over so he doesn't have to climb over her again.

Grinning, he sets the tray down on her lap and sits back down. He props a pillow up against the headboard, leans back, and pulls the blanket over himself. He shuffles around for a bit until he's comfortable – Reyna watching him all the while. His presence is so familiar. She knows how he likes to sit – and yep soon enough he's slouched down so that the base of his spine is pressed against the pillow, his middle and upper back falling against the headboard. But the thing about Jason is he also likes to touch – he needs to feel skin-to-skin contact to be comfortable. So he presses himself right up next to Reyna. He's slightly taller, so her left shoulder presses into his left bicep, but their hips are perfectly balanced, and his right leg stretches out against her left – soft denim against bare skin. Even that contact makes her shiver, but Jason is too busy digging through her night table to notice.

After a moment, he looks over his shoulder to smirk at her. She frowns quizzically at him and he raises his hands to reveal the pack of condoms he's found. Shaking her head she huffs, "I'll take that, thank you," and jerks it away from him. His smirk deepens. "What? Are you five? You've never seen condoms before?" she asks incredulously.

He chuckles and goes back to hunting through her drawers. Finally, "AHA!" and he raises the T.V. remote triumphantly.

"Really? That's your plan. We're just going to sit in bed all day and watch T.V.?"

"For now," he shrugs and switches on the T.V. He flicks it to their favourite cartoon channel and settles in for the usual morning programming.

 _Yo Danny Phantom he was just fourteen_

 _When his parents built a very strange machine…_

"It was designed to a view world unseen," she mutters under her breath.

"He's gonna catch 'em all cause he's Danny Phantom," Jason whoops.

They both dissolve into fits of giggle. "Yo Danny Phantom is da bomb!" Jason declares.

"He's ma main man."

"What am I, then? Your side-chick?"

"My arm candy," she giggles.

He grins at her again, and picks a piece of bacon off her plate.

"Hey!" she snaps, playfully slapping his hand. "My breakfast!"

"Look an eagle ghost!" he says pointing to the T.V. screen. Her eyes flick towards it just long enough for him to grab another piece off her plate. "Hey!" she protests pouting.

He laughs at her and she can't help but laugh back.

It's nice - having his company. She feels content and peaceful, and for the first time in the past week she manages to forget that she actually has problems. There's something safe and sweet about this – sitting on her bed, sharing a plate of breakfast, and watching one of their favourite cartoons. _This is familiar_ , she thinks to herself, _we used to spend weekend mornings like this_. A wave of nostalgia washes over her and she squints up at Jason, the fork frozen between the plate and her mouth.

"You're missing the best part," he says without pulling his eyes away from the screen. Finally he glances down at her. "And you're gonna drop that," he smirks.

She pushes the fork into her mouth, and swallows quickly, not even bothering to chew. "Jason, you have to go."

"What? Reyna. We've been through this already. Screw the world. It's me and you against them today remember?"

"That's the problem."

He sighs, mutes the T.V. and frowns down at her. "And how is it a problem?"

"It used to be just like this." When his frown deepens, she continues. "Before. Before you went away."

His frown disappears and a sad, pained look crosses his face. But before he can say anything she keeps going. "I- it was me and you against the world back then. For real. Back when I thought I wasn't going to matter to anyone or anything – there was you. You. Me. Against the world. Literally."

He doesn't say anything for a moment. Finally, "I'm sorry."

"I know you are. You're always so noble and kind and genuine and sincere. It's what I love-eed about you. You always want to do the right thing and you never want to hurt anyone so I know you didn't mean to hurt me when you went away. But it did hurt."

He shuffles anxiously next to her. "I'm sorry," he repeats lamely.

She continues as if she didn't hear him. "And when you came home I was… confused. I was overjoyed… but also angry. So angry for you leaving in the first place, angrier because you never contacted me, and angrier still because you had… well you had Piper."

He's sitting quite still next to her. She wonders if he's holding his breath because she can't even hear him breathe. "And I didn't understand. When you left I thought you loved me but then you came home and you were with her. No explanation, just boom: you love me, then you love her. I was confused… and bitter. I hated you…but I also loved you. And I hated myself for still loving you. But you were still kind and noble and genuine and sincere and so I still loved you. I wanted to be close to you but I also wanted to hurt you. You just made me so confused."

"I- I didn't know, Reyna. I didn't know," he mumbles – voice thick with shock and sadness.

"I hid it well. I didn't want you to know. Didn't want you to know that you had the power to hurt me that way. You remember what I used to say?"

"People can only hurt you if you give them the power to do so."

She nods vigorously. "Yes, and I didn't want to give you that power. But eventually I met Piper, and I could see why you loved her and she seemed like a good match for you and somehow I managed to move on. Or at least I thought I did."

"Thought?"

"I haven't," she conceded, nonchalantly. "I realized it when you and Piper announced your engagement."

"Oh."

"That's why you have to leave."

"I still don't understand."

"You have to go because this is wrong. Doing this with you is wrong. We aren't just friends. We're a mess. And it's not fair to Piper for you to be with someone so obviously and hopelessly in love with you when you're marrying her in three weeks," she finishes matter-of-factly, succeeding in not succumbing to any emotions. _There'll be time for that after he leaves_ , she tells herself.

"Why didn't you say anything before?" His voice is even and calm but she knows better: she knows when he's trying to restrain his anger.

"Because I tried to push it away. Because I didn't want to burden you with it. Because I didn't want to be weak. Because… Well just because."

"You should have told me." His voice is shaking now.

"No I shouldn't have."

"Then why did you just tell me?" His volume just a tad louder, voice strained.

"Because you're so damn oblivious. Can't you see what you're doing?"

"I'm doing this because you're my friend and I care about you!" he shouts at her.

She cringes but she keeps her voice calm. "You used to do this and I fell in love with you. And you keep doing it so I'm still in love with you. You must stop."

"You're telling me that I should stop caring about you? Seriously?!" She looks up at him to find his eyes blazing with anger – but also with sadness and pain. "That's like me telling you not to love me. Damn it Reyna, we can't tell each other how to feel!"

She grits her teeth together and swallows trying to push back the sob she can feel gathering in the back of her throat. "I know you can't just turn it on and off. But if we… maybe if we just didn't see each other, maybe if we just allowed ourselves to drift apart, then maybe we could do it," she reasons.

"You want us to not be friends anymore?" his voice trills with incredulity. "Nope, won't do it!" he declares with much conviction.

"Jason," she says calmly, "We have to."

"No we don't."

"Jason, stop being childish!" she snaps. She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes, trying to contain the momentum of emotions pounding against her brain. Evenly, she says, "It isn't fair to any of us. How can Piper be sure of your intentions if you're spending so much time with me? And it's not fair to me because I love who you are. And who you are hasn't changed. And it won't change, so I won't stop loving you. It's an endless cycle. And it's also not fair to yourself. Every time you look at me you'll feel guilty because you'll think you've hurt me. You shouldn't have to worry about that. You should be happy. You and Piper have something real together. You should celebrate your love with her not feel guilty about it. Please Jason. Think about it, you know this is the right thing to do." She twists around to look him earnestly into his face. "Please."

His mouth is pressed into a thin line, and his eyes are glazed over into a faraway expression. He looks shell-shocked. Finally he manages to look at her. Perhaps for her sake, he swallows and forces his voice to be calm. "You're right. Thank you for telling me."

She gives him a tight smile and breathes out, falling back against her pillow. "Will you leave now?"

"No."

She opens her mouth to argue but he raises a hand to cut her off. "First, I'd like to complain about your methods. You literally unload everything all at once. Completely unfair."

She manages to give a small chuckle. "Fair enough. Second?"

"Second: I still feel the need to tell you I am sorry. God. I feel like such a fucking idiot. All this time you were feeling this way and I never even noticed. Took you for granted. Overlooked you. God. I'm such a complete ass."

"True."

He gives her a tight, pained grin. "Third, I propose we have a farewell party."

She frowns at him. "What?"

"I'm already here. I already brought you this food. I'm already snuggled under this luxurious blanket of yours. We're already watching Danny Phantom. And I already told Piper that I was spending time with you. So I propose we just try to forget out quarrels with each other for a little while and enjoy our last day together. Celebrate the many years of love and friendship we shared. No wedding, no Piper, no other-man-in-your-life-whose-name-I-do-not-know. Just me and you and all our wonderful years together. I'm sure you've got champagne somewhere in here."

He looks at her expectantly, and she wrinkles her nose up at him. But finally, she sighs. "Yes. Alright. Sounds like a plan. But the champagnes for dinner. Which you are cooking, by the way."

"Which we are cooking by the way."

"Which we are cooking," she concedes with a small smile. Sitting back against her pillow, she unmutes the T.V. and for a while they just follow the story.

But then, "In love with me? Really?" His voice is filled with disbelief, but also with something akin to hope.

"Leave it! If we're throwing ourselves a pity party we aren't going to talk about our problems. We're just gonna get high and wasted and enjoy the shit out of this day."

"YES MA'AM!" Jason yells in agreement.

And it turns out to be a good day. They parrot lines from the cartoon back and forth to each other, getting into character and really enjoying it. They play Wii sports – Reyna kicking Jason's ass at boxing and tennis and bowling and archery – and only stop when Jason can't handle being defeated one more time by Reyna. They even pull out some old crayons and markers that Reyna keeps in a box for Percy's kids and amuse themselves drawing ridiculously bad pictures of each other (although Reyna admits to herself that she looks kind of nice in some of his pictures and that Jason is indeed much better than her at art).

When they need some fresh air, they take Reyna's bikes out and head towards the nearby bike trails winding through the beachside park. Before they start, they stop at the neighbourhood café and pick up some pastries and brownies which they pack into a small wicker basket for a mini picnic. The ride is nice – the air that whips at their faces and clothes is fresh and clean, and it feels nice after the heat of the apartment. The day is sunny and there aren't any clouds so it's the kind of day that makes you feel stupidly happy even if you can't explain why. Sometimes they race down the trail calling taunts to each other like "You can't even handle me right now Avila!" and "Do you feel bad for that snail down there blondie? Is that why you're letting him pass you?" But other times they just ride alongside each other, laughing at each other's jokes and reminiscing about past times.

When they get to the end of the trail, they walk their bikes up a small hill, where on the other side, a small stream bubbles by busily past the roots of an ancient willow tree. The park their bikes against the trunk, and settle down to enjoy their snacks. It's peaceful and quiet and they both feel a little drowsy from all the days' activities. So Reyna leans back against the trunk and stretches her legs out. A minute later Jason lays his head in her lap and closes his eyes. She hums and a contented smile begins to grow on her face. She fingers his hair, and brushes his damp hair off his equally wet forehead. "Gross, Grace. You're sweating like a pig," she teases wrinkling her nose down at him. He chuckles, but when she continues to twirls her fingers in his hair, he just smiles serenely.

"You brought a book?" he asks suddenly.

"How did you know?"

"You always do."

Her gut clenches at the painful reminder, but she pushes it away, choosing to enjoy the moment with him. "You know me too well, Jason Grace," she murmurs.

His smile returns and he begins to hum too. "Can you read to me?"

Laughing, she stretches towards the basket, and draws it closer to her. Pulling out the book, she turns to the first chapter. "Late in the winter of my seventeenth year, my mother decided I was depressed…"

Jason laces his fingers together on top of his chest and breathes deeply. The smile never leaves his face and as she continues to read she feels him relax, and his breathing even out, until he falls asleep. She watches him for a few moments, sadness pulling at her heartstrings. _This was how it was supposed to be. This was how it would have been if you'd chosen me_ , she thinks. She has to suddenly swallow past a large lump in her throat, and blink a few times to clear the blurriness of her vision.

Taking a deep breath, she continues to read. When she has to blink too aggressively to prevent herself from falling asleep, she shakes Jason awake.

"Huh," he mumbles. Looking up, he smiles. "Oh hi."

"Hi," she whispers quietly. He looks up at her and she tries to push down the sudden lump again, but he knows her too well, and suddenly he's sitting up and pulling her into his arms, and her face is buried in the crook of his neck, and she's feeling so overwhelmed from all this pent up emotion. He doesn't say anything – just holds her close and caresses her back in a hypnotic up-and-down movement. She swallows back her tears, determined to reign in her emotions until he's gone. When she feels like she's calmed down enough, she pulls back and smiles up at him. "Thank you."

He smiles back, gives her cheek a gentle stroke, and pulls away.

"We should be getting back. You still need to make me dinner."

He scoffs. " _We_ still need to make dinner."

She huffs, and he laughs at her, and when his eyes brighten, she feels a little bit better and so she manages a real smile. "Fiiinneee," she grumbles. "We'll make dinner when we get back."

They gather their things, and Reyna pulls the packet of cigarettes buried in the basket out. She lights one and offers another to Jason, who accepts it with a smirk. She takes a long pull, and feels the familiar smoke fill up her lungs, then breathes it back out, enjoying the heady sensation. They don't talk on their way back – both of them feel the strain of sadness as they know that time's running out for them.

When they get back, Reyna excuses herself for a shower, and Jason nods sleepily, saying he'll just lie down on the couch for a while. They both know that neither of them is up for cooking right now, so she just throws her phone at him, and tells him to order something.

He must have done it as soon as she left because when she steps out of her bedroom twenty minutes later, the elevator doors are dinging open and the wide-eyed delivery boy is handing Jason a paper bag of food, mouth open in wonder at the luxury of her apartment. Jason pays, and the boy's eyes go even wider at all the cash in his hands. "Keep the change," she hears him tell the young boy who whispers a reverent thank you before heading back into the elevator.

He turns around and smiles quizzically at her. She realizes she's been wearing a dreamy little smile, and quickly wipes it off, clearing her throat loudly.

"So whad'ya get?"

He smiles as he walks over to her. Tucking the bag under his right arm, he takes her right hand with his left and guides her over to the fireplace, blazing with warm, orange flames. On the plush rug lay two plates with a knife and fork set out beside each. A napkin lie in each plate and between them, a vase of flowers and a bottle of champagne. She looks up, and she realizes that he's dimmed the lights. When it dawns on her what he's really doing, she gasps and her eyes go wide. She pulls her hand away quickly. "Jason, we can't. It's too -"

"I know," he says sadly, his head hung low, his eyes cast to the floor. Lifting his eyes back up to her, he offers her his hand again and says, "Just one last time."

Oh god she wants this. She wants this perfect, romantic night with him. She wants to live in this moment forever. So against her better judgement, she takes his hand, and solemnly, he leads her to her seat on the floor.

When they're both seated, he begins to pull dishes from the paper bag. "Kinda ruins the mood, huh? The take-out bag," he says with a sheepish grin.

"I'll pretend you cooked it," she says with a playful smile.

"That _we_ cooked it Reyna!"

She rolls her eyes, even as she lets out a bemused laugh. "Fine."

He takes her salad plate and lays some of the fresh Ceasar salad onto it. Onto her dinner plate, he spoons some chicken alfredo and places a slice of garlic bread next to it. She watches his quiet, easy movements, finding them beautiful and hypnotic. This boy is an artist's dream and she feels like she could just sit here and watch him all day.

He suddenly flicks his eyes up at her, and her heart skips a beat, not at being caught, but by how clear and incandescent his blue eyes are. Her heart skips a beat because when his blue eyes meet hers, they send a jolt down her spine and she has to fight to smother the shiver she can feel racking her body. She closes her eyes, and she suddenly remembers how dark his eyes can go when they're filled with need and hunger, and… _fuck._

"Reyna, are you okay?" She opens her eyes and gives him a haughty look. But he knows her tells so he smirks. "You're biting your lip." _Fuck_. Quickly, she straightens up, and shakes her head. "I'm good," she manages to say.

He licks his lips as he regards her with those sparkling blue eyes that she knows she could lose herself in. "Mmm-hmmm," he teases, handing her plate back to her. After he fills his own plate, he pops the bottle of champagne, the bubbly foam leaking onto her rug ("You're buying me a new rug, Grace!"), and proceeds to fill their glasses.

Giving her an apologetic smile, he says, "See? I knew you had champagne in here somewhere."

"We all cope in our ways," she replies with a tiny smirk.

He raises his eyebrows at her but doesn't reply. "Well bon appetite!" he finally says, raising his fork in an exaggerated flourish.

Reyna digs in – hunger clawing at her stomach. She savours the first bite. "Mmmmm. Why Mr. Grace. You are an exquisite cook."

"Please, Ms. Ramirez. You must give yourself some credit."

"I am quite good, aren't I?"

He laughs, and once again she finds herself feeling her heart lift in response. She picks up her glass and takes a sip, peering up at him from under her lashes. He looks up suddenly at her, and she feels her heart skip a beat because under his glasses, his eyes look just a little blacker than they did a few moments ago. He quickly looks back down, picking up his own glass and taking a quick sip. She looks back down at her food, trying to get her mind to concentrate on the food and not on the beautiful man sitting across from her.

He sets his glass back down and clears his throat loudly. "So, who's James?"

She feels as if her stomach has just fallen out of her. She takes a careful bite of her alfredo before asking, "Why do you ask?"

"Only because he texted whilst I was ordering the food."

"A lot of people text me Jason," she replies carefully avoiding his eyes.

"Well I know that. But see this one was particularly interesting. He just wanted to know how his love was doing and whether or not he could take you out somewhere tonight – somewhere romantic."

She feels a blush creep up her neck from embarrassment. "God Jason! You don't read people's private messages!"

He chuckles and raises his hands in surrender. "Hey! I'm sorry. It was just right there on your screen. You shoulda thought about that before you gave me your phone."

"Ok fine. You read it. But do not judge him!"

"I'm not." He glances quickly at her before saying, "It's not really your style though."

"Totally judging."

"Come on Rey! Calling you my love, isn't it a little pretentious?"

She shrugs. "It can be suffocating sometimes. But sometimes it's nice. It's a nice reminder that you matter." She doesn't fully know why she's even telling him all of this right now, only that it feels right. Perhaps it has to do with this pathetic farewell party they're throwing themselves.

"Oh. I didn't know you felt that way." Quieter, he adds, "Apparently there's a lot I didn't know about you."

"Still know more than most people do," she points out matter-of-factly.

He beams up at her, but quickly looks back down at his plate.

"Sorry, shouldn't have done that," he mutters. She eyes him bemusedly. "It's just that it makes me a little proud to know I'm still the one who knows you best." He gives her a grin that's part apologetic, part sheepish, but one that also looks so damn proud.

Shaking her head, she presses her lips together to push back her smile. It makes her happy too, but she can't encourage him because it's too late. "Starting tomorrow I think you should start grooming someone else for that job."

He eyes her a bit defiantly, but then his shoulders sag. "I suppose so."

"Okay."

"Good."

They pick at their food for a few more minutes until Jason asks quietly, "So was he the one? From the other night?"

She nods without looking up.

"But you said… you said you're still in love with me. Does that mean you don't love him?"

She sighs. Perhaps she's playing a dangerous game here but Jason has always been the one person she could talk to. "I want to." He raises his eyebrows at her clearly not satisfied with that answer. "But, yea. I don't. At least not yet," she admits in a resigned tone.

"Oh Reyna," he murmurs quietly. She meets his eyes to find them once again sad, and tinged with pity.

"Don't look at me like that!" she snaps. "I don't' need your pity. Won't fix a damn thing!"

"I'm sorry," he says lowering his eyes again. "You know, I do want you to be happy. I'm not trying to stop you from falling in love."

She sighs tiredly. "I know. That's why I think this… break we're taking is a good idea. It's why I need it," she finishes a bit desperately, hoping he'd understand.

"I understand," he replies quietly, meeting her eyes once again, and relief floods her chest when she sees that he means it.

"Thank you." He nods in response.

They go back to their food and once the awkwardness from that conversation wears off, they pick up right back where they left off. When he finishes his dinner, Jason props himself up on his left elbow, stretching his legs out, and looks up at her.

Noticing the intensity of his gaze, she asks, "What?"

Tilting his head, he says, "You're beautiful you know."

She huffs, and swats her napkin at him. "You always say that."

"I know. But it's just… I started thinking about how your boyfriend-" she gives him a sharp look, "- excuse me – James might see you."

She gives him another pointed look before piling the plates on top of one another and picking them up. She gets up and heads towards the kitchen.

She hears the clinking of glasses and the rustle of shifting clothes, and then the quiet pad of feet behind her. She places the dishes in the sink and turns on the pipe whilst Jason lays his own in the one next to her. He turns so that he faces her.

"I mean does he see what I used to see?"

"No. You're not objectifying me!" She turns her head towards him, intending to glare at him, but she falters when she sees the way he's looking at her.

"It wasn't just your body that I loved Reyna," he whispers quietly. "I want you to know that."

The lilt in his voice is doing more to her brain than the champagne – it's making her warm, and her brain feels the start of that headiness she gets when she smokes a few cigarettes one right after the other. She bites her lip again, and manages to breathe, "Then what did you see?"

He looks down at her and his lips pull up into a dreamy half smile before he says, "I loved your smile. Seeing your beautiful, full lips turned up was a huge turn on." As he talks, he raises his hand to her lips and his thumb begins to trace out their outline with something that feels like pure devotion. "Sometimes just one side would slide up in a small polite smile, or a sexy smirk. But I loved the big goofy smiles you saved just for me best. Those made me crazy. That's when I knew you were giving all of yourself to me, and I'd be gone. I just knew that I had to give all of myself right back. And I never knew if I did, but I tried. God, Reyna I tried so hard!" His voice is pleading as his eyes flick up to hers, and his hand moves along her jaw until his fingers thread into her hair just behind her ear.

"I felt it," she murmurs.

"Good."

"What else?"

Both their voices are quiet and strained, as if it costs them so much more breath just to form one syllable than it did moments before to form entire paragraphs.

"I loved your eyes. How they would glow with a warm fire when you looked at me, because I was yours and you were mine, and I knew you loved me. I loved when they went hazy like liquid honey when the world narrowed to just me and you. When we were both gone. Lost in each other, filling up the entire space of the other's infinity."

She closes her eyes, and she feels him step just an inch closer – but not close enough to press her body against him. His fingers are kneading comforting circles into the base of her neck now, and she starts to hum.

"I remember that."

"I loved the way you smelt – like vanilla and coffee because you worked at that coffee shop where all the local college kids used to go." She giggles, and a proud, happy smile lights up his face.

"That smile. That's the one I love." He moves closer so she can feel his breath on her face and she's dying to close the space but she knows she can't, but she knows where this is going, and she also knows that even if she could, she wouldn't stop it. She'll say fuck the world and pick up the pieces later.

"I loved your fuck-me hair and how it looked when it fell down your back – like you'd been hidden away and had finally found your freedom. I especially loved how wild and messy it looked after. I loved the feel of your skin," he continues, now running his hands down her shoulders and down her back, "how soft it was. I used to like watching how I could press my fingers into it and seeing the little indentations that would take nano seconds to pop back up. I loved seeing the little goosebumps I'd leave in the wake of my kisses."

His fingers wrap around her hips and he pulls her in gently, giving her chance to resist if she wants to. But she knows she's already too far gone, so she doesn't. When she's finally pressed against his chest, he says, "I loved every sound you made whether you screamed or groaned or whimpered…"

He flicks his eyes up to her and she shivers when she sees how dark they've become. How dark are her eyes? Can he see just how much she wants him? God she wants – _needs_ – this so bad. He leans his head down - tilting it slightly to the right - slowly, carefully, watching her for resistance but how can she resist? She's so hooked – addicted to this beautiful man who makes her feel _alive._ Suddenly she can't fathom how she managed to get through the last years without him, how she thought she could ever live without the way he's looking at her and holding her right this moment.

Finally, _finally,_ with excruciating slowness, he presses his lips to hers – gentle and chaste – but even that tiny touch makes her forget to breathe. Oh god, yes. In this moment she realizes that really she's an addict. She's addicted to _him_ and when she'd lost him, she'd tried others looking for the same high, but nothing could compare. He is her high, he is everything.

She presses her fingertips into his hips and closes her eyes wanting to focus on how he tastes and feels. She'd forgotten how soft they could be. Forgotten that he tasted like the rarest wine they'd once stolen out of his dad's cellar – sweet with a sharp tinge. He was her high and she loved every second of it. He sucks on her bottom lip, and then bites down ruefully. The whimper she lets out is drowned out by his own groan. He wraps his arms tighter around her, pressing their bodies much closer together. One hand moves up into her hair to cradle the back of her head, whilst the other rubs circles into the small of her back. Foreheads press against each other – his glasses pressing into the bridge of her nose when their noses brush - and he nuzzles her. He pushes his tongue into her mouth, slowly and gently, like he's experimenting with her for the first time. She lets him take his time because she wants to go slow. She wants to savour every moment, every touch, every taste. She wants to remember every single detail with perfect clarity because this moment will have to carry her through for the rest of her life.

The hand that's rubbing circles moves to cup her chin, tilting her head back just a tiny bit so they can both manoeuver a bit better. His tongue flicks across her own and she shivers and perhaps it's her reaction that encourages him, because now his tongue is roaming around in her mouth in a way that makes her think he's trying to etch the way she tastes onto his own tongue so that he can carry _her_ around forever. That thought warms her heart and encouraged, she flicks her own tongue back into his mouth, eliciting a groan from the blonde. Now both hands are pushed into her hair gripping it tightly, but not painfully, as if he needs to anchor himself down to her. Their tongues beat together for a few moments until they both pull apart for air. She can't help but whine at the loss of contact, but his brows are furrowed and he's making to lean back in when she grabs his wrists and says, "Wait. Jason, wait."

His breathing is ragged and he pulls back to look her in the eyes. She takes a deep breath. "We won't be able to take this back," she whispers. Her fingers move to the top buttons of his shirt, toying with them nervously.

"Reyna," his voice is breathy and ragged as if he's just run a mile. "I want this. Fuck, I want this so bad." He tightens his grip in her hair and presses their foreheads together. "I want you. All of you. Again. One last time. Please."

She knows she shouldn't, but her inhibitions were shot so long ago, her sense so gone that she's surprised she managed to even get this out. "Jason," she breathes, bringing brown eyes up to meet midnight blue ones, "Make love to me." Her voice catches and the "please" she utters comes out as a broken sob.

But that's all it takes to drive Jason over the edge and he's suddenly crashing their lips together, mouths hungry and wanting. Tongues beat against each other, dancing together in a sort of animalistic frenzy. She groans, reaches up to take off his glasses, puts them on the counter, and then clutch desperately at his hips, trying to remove any possible space between them.

She can feel his erection growing, and how he strains against his pants. A groan rises from her chest and gets lost in Jason's mouth and she grinds her own hips against his. She's deeply satisfied that she can leave him this hot and wanting and needy. She continues to roll her hips against him, but the layer of clothes between them might as well be a wall. So she clumsily scrabbles at his shirt buttons, miraculously managing to undo them, and pushes it off his shoulders. She hastily pulls his grey undershirt over his head, and he does the same with hers, not wanting to have to break away from the kiss again. Frantic lips meet, and now she's fumbling with the belt and buttons of his jeans, and finally she manages to work his jeans down his ass. She digs her nails into its softness and Jason jumps, but he chuckles against their lips.

"You always liked it rough baby," he murmurs.

She licks his lips playfully and pushes her tongue back into his mouth. Her hands move over his hips, and finally she brushes her fingers over his length, earning a shaky gasp from the blonde. She smiles slyly against his mouth and pulls back so she can look at him.

"Jason," she breathes. She wants him to look at her and see the way she's looking at him. Wants him to see all the desire and need and lust that only he can awaken in her.

"Mmmm-hmmm."

"Look at me," she orders. He responds to her tone and blue eyes fly open to meet brown. He sees every intention in those brown eyes and it makes him groan.

She wraps her right hand around his member and brushes her thumb against his tip. He shudders and closes his eyes. "Oh god Reyna," he somehow manages to gasp. She smiles to herself and rubs circles around the slit, making him moan deeply. She moves her attention to the rest of him and begins to fist him – up and down – starting slow, and with excruciating care and slowness begins to build a gradual tempo. She can't believe that he could get any harder, but he is, and purple veins begin to stand out against the flesh. He's shaking so hard now, head tilted back, eyes closed, mouth open unable to produce any more sounds. He's so gone and she's the one who brought him here. She lets go and he _whimpers_ at the loss, but she pushes the other hand into his hair so that she can push his head down and press their lips together. The fingers of her right hand continue to feather over his member making him whimper into her mouth.

She kisses him for a moment then moves her lips down to his chin, and licks along his jawline. She sucks along his neck, careful not to suck too long to leave any marks, then continues down his chest, pausing to lick at his nipples. When she bites down on them, Jason can't stop the greedy "Ugh" from spilling past his lips. She smiles, but pulls her lips away from them and continues down his abs, right hand fingers never ceasing their teasing caress.

Finally, she's stooped in front of him, and she finally gets to pulls his pants down to his ankles. His erection stands straight up, tip blue and strained and wet with pre-come. She presses feather light kisses along its length and she hears him mutter frantically, "Oh god. Yes. Oh Reyna. Oh baby. Oh god."

"Do you want me to make you come in my mouth Jason?" she demands.

He looks down at her, blue eyes shot black, frantic and hungry and so far gone. "Pllleaaasse," he barely manages to beg. She flicks her tongue against his tip, tasting the saltiness of his pre-come.

"What was that?"

"Please Reyna," he gasps, eyes now screwed up.

"Please Reyna, what?"

"Please Rey-Reyna. Let me c-c-c-come in your mouth," he stutters out. She flicks her tongue once more across his head, and he groans. Body shaking, hands clutching tightly at the counter pressed against his back. "Please Reyna."

God, hearing him beg for such dirty things is bringing every nerve in her body to life, making her feel extra sensitive and alive. His voice is thick with lust and it's so fucking sexy that she starts to feel a wetness between her legs. Wrapping her hands around his ass, she first takes the tip into her mouth, experimenting with the feel and taste. Then she pushes a little further and then a little more. She pulls back dragging her tongue across its length on the retreat. Then she pushes back in and takes a little more of him into her mouth.

"Unf. Oh _yes_ ," he breathes. She keeps at it for a while, taking a bit more of him into her mouth each time. But then she starts building a tempo, in-out faster and deeper, followed by languid licks. And he's shaking again and she can feel that he's so close to coming undone.

Pulling back one last time, she murmurs just loud enough for him to hear, "Jason, let go. Let go for me baby." He groans and she pulls him back into her mouth, this time using her hands for the parts of him that she can't fit. And she only has to suck him off for a bit more before he's gasping and shuddering and coming, hot and salty, straight into her throat. She swallows around him, and he moans, breathy and ragged. Giving him a few more licks, she pulls back finally and begins to trails kisses back up to his mouth. Swollen red lips meet pick soft ones and he's still breathing hard coming down from the euphoria of his orgasm. But he's wrapping her up tightly and pulling hungrily at her lips like he just can't get enough, just can't get enough.

Finally, he pulls away and presses their foreheads together. "And to think, you're still half dressed," he whispers.

She giggles and grinds her hips against his again and he groans. He pulls her mouth back to his and she feels the heat radiating from the chest pressed against her almost naked one. She feels the soft tips of fingers run up her back and start to fumble with the clasp of her bra.

But she has a sudden idea. She pulls back from him and smiles slyly at him once again. He's confused – eyebrows furrowed quizzically – and he's leaning back down trying to reconnect their lips, but she pulls out of his arms.

"Reyna -"

"Shhhh," she murmurs. He actually whines – hearing how badly he wants her _again_ makes her so damn hot – but she holds out. She presses their lips back together momentarily, and he's using his teeth to try to pull her back in, but she laughs and pulls back away. "You're just so greedy aren't you?"

A sloppy, embarrassed smile appears on his face, and he giggles nervously. "I just can't seem to get enough of you."

Her breathing catches momentarily – the confession both a turn-on and a painful reminder that she can never really have him even though she feels the exact same way.

Pressing a kiss to his cheek she whispers, "Wait here," and backs away from him, never taking her eyes off of him. Despite leaving him standing alone, his eyes are dark and staring hungrily at her, and she can't help biting her lips. His lips part and a silent groan passes between them.

Smirking, she finally turns her back to him and makes her away over to her stereo. _What to play?_ She's looking for something soft and sultry, and _ah this'll do_.

The sound of plucked guitar strings begins to play over the wireless speakers placed in several corners of her apartment. She walks back over to the kitchen to find Jason has turned off the forgotten tap, stepped out of his pants and underwear, and is now leaning casually against the counter. He sees her, and the left side of his lip pulls up in a half smirk as if to say, "Well?"

She goes straight up to him, standing just far enough so that their bodies aren't touching. He straightens and looks down at her to find her staring at his pecs. Slowly, she raises her eyes to him.

 _Her eyes and words are so icy_

 _Oh, but she burns, like rum on a fire_

She lets the music guide her as she moves her body around him: arms around his chest, around his head, eyes never leaving his face. He can't take his eyes off of her – she's an exquisite dancer – just as he couldn't back when they were in high school and he'd first seen her dance on stage.

Turning around, she pushes her back against him, does a body roll into a fan kick, turns around and hooks her leg around his knee and leans back, letting her head fall back, exposing her graceful neck and pressing their hips together. She pulls back up slowly and takes a moment to just breathe open mouthed and stare him straight in the eyes and she can see how hooked he is, how he's hanging onto her every movement. She bites her lip and he groans, but he doesn't put his hands on her, too enchanted by this beautiful goddess before him.

She turns and does several shanay turns out of the kitchen and even without looking back she knows he's following her. Shanays turn into piqués turn into pirouettes – double, triple, quadruple – into a standstill taking a moment to breathe.

 _Blood is rare and sweet as cherry wine._

Her back is to him but she can feel his eyes boring into her. She brushes her hands up her back until her fingers fasten around her bra clasp, and slowly undoes it. She pulls the straps off her shoulder and lets it fall to the ground and she hears a small gasp come from behind her.

She ignores him and continues dancing. Arms are thrown up, brought down, fingers clutch at her forehead, others around her waist, right leg sweeps back, toes pointed, then back straight up, fists clutched at hips, head, held high. Pirouette down to the ground, back pressed against the floor, knees up to the ceiling, she pops her hips, then swings her right leg around into a split. Her muscles are powerful and flexible, and she moves with the grace of a swan. Eyes closed, lips slightly parted, lost in the music.

She pulls up but only a little so her legs are still stretched out, rolls her shoulders back, and then pops them straight back. She twists left, rolls to the ground and brings her left leg into an attitude, then brings it under her and tucks it to the right to stretch out beside the right leg. She drags her feet, pointed toes grazing the floor, knees popped to the ceiling. She arches her back and breathes deeply, accentuating the rise and fall of her chest. Then she cartwheels back, toes pointed and feet arched, to stand straight again.

 _Blood is rare and sweet as cherry wine_.

She stalks toward him slowly, fists clenched at her hips, chest pushed out, shoulders pressed back. Right leg crosses in front of left - pointed toes leading the way - then left crosses in front of right. She stops just short of him, crosses her hands over her stomach, and then hooks her fingers into the waistline of her short pyjama pants and panties and pushes downward, fingers scraping suggestively against her legs. She looks up from under brown lashes to find him staring down at her, blue irises shot black. Stepping out of the clothes, she remains stopped, stretching her left leg out with the right knee bent to the front. Rolling her ribs to the right, she pulls straight up, left leg shooting up into a leg extension, balancing on her right toes. Her lines are artistically exquisite and her legs seem to go on forever. Bringing her left leg back down, she hooks it around his right hip, and pulls herself up around him, right leg sticking out straight behind him. She's pleased to find that he's once again rock hard pressing against her stomach when he wraps his arms around her waist.

They don't break eye contact and their faces are so close together that their breaths flow from one to the other in an infinite cycle. Wrapping her right leg around him she uncoils her left and kicks it back into an arabesque then swings herself around him to stand behind him. She stands there for a few moments letting her breath flow onto the hollow between his shoulder blades. Then she drags her right hand across his shoulders from left to right, down to his right arm to his elbow and pushes it up to right angle. Snaking her right forearm under his, she lines up their wrists then pushes his own up. She presses their palms together then intertwines their fingers. Rolling her head under his arm, she rolls back up so that his arm is resting on her shoulder. Crosses her left leg in front of his right and wraps his arm around her waist. She wraps her left around his left hip and pushes it to sway with her own twice before turning into his embrace, and bringing his left arm around her.

 _Her fight and fury's fiery_

 _Oh but she loves_

 _Like sleep to the freezing_

Her arms wrap around his neck, presses their foreheads together, and they sway together for a few more moments, whilst the last strains of the music play out. When she rocks her hips against his erection, he groans, but when he finally touches their lips, it's not hurried and greedy. It's soft and pleading as if he's saying, "Please let me have you. All of you."

 _The_ _way she shows me I'm hers and she's mine_

 _Open hand or closed fist would be fine_

 _Blood is rare and sweet as cherry wine._

"You already do baby," she whispers. "You already have all of me."

He makes a wounded noise in the back of his throat before claiming her mouth and deepening the kiss. He bends her back and slides his right arm under her knees, then picks her up bridal style and begins to carry her towards the bedroom, never pulling his mouth away from hers.

Soon he's laying her on her back on the bed and climbing over her, his knees between hers. But he doesn't press his body down on top of her, and desperate to feel him again she clutches his hips to pull him down. He chuckles into her mouth and begins to pull away, but she keeps her mouth latched onto his. He still keeps pulling back, so her neck arches, back of her head pressed into the pillow. When he finally manages to pull away, she doesn't let her neck fall back but keeps it arched and he runs his hand over it.

"You're so fucking magnificent. Every curve, every line. It's like a sculptor designed you and then brought you to life." He bends down and brushes kisses down her neck, and it pulls a purr from her. She keeps her eyes closed, letting his touch fill up her senses. He runs his tongue up her neck, whilst rubbing his left hand up her side towards her breast. He's relentlessly slow though, and it makes her growl in frustration that he won't just touch her. But she has to admit that just the anticipation of his touch is driving her nuts, and his tongue and hands are leaving goosebumps in their trace.

She arches up into his hand and pulls her knees up around him. But he laughs against her neck – his breath tickling her.

Frustrated, she falls back against the bed. "What?" she demands.

"You're so fucking greedy. You just can't wait!"

"I'm greedy? You're fucking hard again and I just went down on you!"

He chuckles again and presses his hips down between her legs, and she moans – long and sweet. "I want you inside me."

"Not yet baby," he murmurs against her ear. She whines at his denial, and he rolls his hips against her once again, turning the whine into a whimper. He traces his lips back to hers and presses down against her mouth for just a moment before pulling away again. He starts tracing his lips down her neck again.

"I'm going to make you feel again Sunshine –" the nickname pulls a cry from the brunette and she arches back up against him. He bites down on her collarbone and flicks his tongue across it. "That's right. Sunshine, _my_ sunshine." Another cry. "I'm going to make you feel alive, _Sunshine_. Gonna take you to sun and let it burn everything away."

Hearing him call her by the nickname he'd given to her in high school is making her chest feel tight. Like her heart is growing too big for her chest, and she knows that no one will ever make her feel this way. Ever again.

His mouth finally brushes against the pad of her right breast, his right hand cupping her left. His breath is hot against her nipple and she can already feel it hardening. Suddenly he flicks his tongue against it, and her breathing hitches, her back arching so much that their stomachs collide. When she falls back against the bed, he presses his erection down between her legs again, and a ragged gasp escapes through her lips.

"Mmmm, can feel how wet you already are for me." She locks her legs around his hips and squeezes. The blonde groans. "Mmmm you already feel so damn good. And I'm not even inside you yet. Fuck."

She doesn't loosen her grip on his hips. "Then fuck me Jason."

"Mmmmm, no. You asked me to make love to you. And I am. But first I'm going to make you come with just my fingers."

A delicious shiver runs through her body and her skin suddenly heats up. He feels the change in her body and he smiles down at her. "You want that Sunshine. You want me to fuck you with my fingers?"

She nods.

"Excuse me, what was that?" he asks, mirroring her question.

She huffs out a hollow laugh. "You're quite ballsy when you're on - oooommmm."

He rolls his hips against her again, flicks his tongue against her right nipple, and strokes his thumb against her left cutting off her words. "What was that?"

She looks him straight in his eyes. "Fuck me with your fingers Jason," she whispers, a plead underlying it.

"That's right baby, that's right." he murmurs. "I'm going to take such good care of you tonight." He finally closes his lips around her right nipple, licking and sucking until it's swollen and standing taut and firm. Transferring his mouth to the left, he gives it the same attention, until both stand hard and erect. All she can do is lie helplessly, head pressed back into the pillow, whilst the blonde coaxes her body into wakefulness.

He raises his mouth back to hers, and kisses her deeply before rolling off of her and to her right. She feels a sudden coldness, and she tries to pull him back but he simply whispers, "No. I want to watch you."

She nods and doesn't look away, keeping her eyes locked on his. Propping himself up on his left elbow, he strokes her jaw, then her lips, and gently pushes his index and middle fingers into her mouth. She sucks on them for a while and then he pulls them away. Never taking his eyes off hers, he runs his hand down her neck, between her breasts, and down her stomach, all the while leaving goosebumps in his wake. Finally he comes to a stop between her legs and begins to rub circles over the lips.

"Mmmm, look how wet you are already. You're just so ready for me."

She can't trust herself to respond - her chest is rising a bit higher and her mind feels foggy. Just when she thinks she's going to come just from the teasing, he pushes the tip of his index finger inside her. The initial push stings a little, but soon the pain is fading and he's pushing deeper inside her. Slowly and gently, she can feel her muscles clenching around him, and it's such a delicious feeling. He pushes in and pulls out then pushes back in – a little bit deeper each time. When he brushes against her clit, she jumps, her breath catching in her throat, and she has to press her eyes close. "Mmm," she moans.

He circles his finger around her clit – once, twice, thrice – before pulling out, make her groan from the need to feel him. She looks back at him – eyes angry and accusing.

"Shhhh baby. Don't worry, I'll take care of it," he murmurs. This time when he pushes back in, he adds the middle finger. And it feels so fucking _good_ to have _his_ fingers inside of her. To have _him_ do this to her. Anyone else can try touching her this way and it doesn't feel the same way. It's _his_ fingers, and _his_ tongue, and _his_ lips, and _his_ body that makes her feel this way – alive and loved and free. _He_ is the only one who can take her to the sun and let her fly.

He circles, strokes up down, and massages, slow and fast then slow again, and she can't even find the breath to groan. All that can escape through her lips are broken, ragged breaths. She's had to hook her right arm under his forearm –nails digging into his bicep - the other clutching tightly at the rails of her headboard to try and keep herself anchored.

Her mind's getting fuzzier, and it feels far away. She feels light headed and dazed, and all she can think about is Jason and his fingers in her and the way he's bringing her to life. And she can't help thinking, _Please don't ever stop making me feel this way. Please wake up in the morning and tell me you'll stay with me. Please stay with me. Please,_ even though she knows tomorrow it'll only break her further.

A deep thrust causes her to gasp – he's hit her G-spot. And she's writhing under him, her hips rolling up to meet his hand trying to push his fingers deeper. "Jason," she breathes.

"That's right Sunshine. You like that?"

"Mmmhh."

"What do you want Sunshine. Tell me, I'll give it to you."

A cry rips from her throat. "Harder."

He pushes harder hooking his fingers against the sweet spot. "Like that?"

Her back is pushing up from the bed. "Deeper."

He pushes deeper. "Are you going to come Sunshine?"

"Yeeeesssss," she breathes.

He pushes in and pulls out – faster and deeper. Her body breaks out into sweat and she can feel her inner thighs shaking. Her body is pulsing – like a wave rolling up from her hips up through her stomach and straight to her chest. The pulsing gets faster and her body's heating up – she feels like she's burning – and her vision is so bright, like the sun is burning under her lids. He gives one last powerful push and she's exploding around his fingers – a million fireballs going off in her pelvis and brightening behind her eyelids.

He presses their lips together absorbing the last of her cries, his fingers still lost in her body, bringing her back down. When he finally pulls out, she whimpers in his mouth – her body feeling suddenly empty even as it still rocks from the ecstacy.

"It's okay baby," he murmurs against her lips. "It's okay." He wraps her up in his arms, pressing kisses to her forehead and cheeks and neck and shoulders.

"I want more Jason," she complains.

He chuckles against her right collarbone. "Greedy, greedy, greedy," he teases in between soft bites to her shoulder. "But you looked so damn beautiful. You should have seen how dark your eyes were, and your beautiful mouth swollen and red and open and you were so damn gone. And I made you come undone," he boasts proudly.

Her heart gives a funny twitch, but she swallows, pushing it back down. She opts instead to hook her fingers into his hair and pulls his mouth back to hers. This time when they kiss it's slow, deep, and languid. He moves back on top of her, pressing their hips together, and cupping her face between his big hands and she feels something shift. Suddenly it's like the kiss is saying all the things they're afraid to admit out loud.

 _I loved you._

 _I loved you too._

 _I think I might still love you._

 _I still love you._

 _I can't stay._

 _I want you to stay._

 _I can't._

 _Please._

Sob. But she's not sure whose.

 _When did I start thinking I stopped loving you?_

 _When did I start believing you didn't love me?_

 _Why did I let you go?_

 _Why did you let me go?_

 _Why didn't you fight for me?_

 _Why did I have to fight? Why wasn't I good enough for you?_

She feels thick, hot tears run down her cheeks, and he's brushing them away. And when more continue to fall, he kisses those away. But more continue to pour down, and soon his own are mixing with hers, and she's wiping away his, and they're whimpering into each other's mouths. Perhaps they both feel the pressure of time – time's running out for them, their deadline creeping up on them like some dreadful predator.

She feels his erection press against her stomach and she pulls her knees up around him. He pulls away from her just long enough to fumble for the box of condoms he'd found this morning, grab one, pull it out of its package and pull it over himself. Then he's reattaching their mouths and she's raising her hips and he's angling the tip into her.

And slowly, as he'd done with his fingers, he begins to slide into her. Her ankles cross at the base of his spine and they move together. Slow and languid, each hip roll exaggerated to make every move count. There's no rush for release – they just want to enjoy being wrapped up in each other.

She feels so content with him inside her, feeling him fill her up. She feels whole, like he was made to fit her - fit _inside_ her - and she's wishing so hard that he could just stay there forever.

He's thinking that she feels so right around him – the way her body clenches around him is perfect – so snug, so tight, like she was made just for him.

It's silent. Whatever noise they make is absorbed into the throat of the other. Hips writhe in sync – up and down in harmony – cries echo back from one mouth to the other, fingers intertwined above her head, bodies pressed together, eyes glazed, minds lost in each other. Time and space lose meaning. Jason is her entire world – the feel of his body as he presses down against her, the taste of his mouth inside her, the feel of him _inside_ her – and it's all that matters. She could probably live off of him for the rest of her life. This is all she needs to feel alive and whole. Reyna is his entire world – he's so lost in her body, in her mouth, in her world. How did he live so long without her?

But soon the slowness gives way to primal need and their hips begin to jerk faster. He pushes deeper, finding her g-spot again and she growls into his mouth. With each powerful thrust she's flying closer and closer to the sun, until she's close enough to touch it. And now it's burning everything away, her name and identity, until all she can think and feel is Jason. Jason is all she knows and he's the sun and he's making her body explode into a million molecules, robbing her of everything but his name and his identity. So when she comes, the only thing that spills out of her mouth is his name, coming out as a broken sob.

And maybe that pushes him over the edge, because he's coming now. She can feel him coming undone inside her, letting go, and filling her up. "Rey- Reyna," he gasps into her mouth and now she really wishes he didn't have the condom on so he could really spill himself inside her and she could carry him around.

He stays inside her whilst they both come down from their highs. But soon he's pulling out again, and this time the emptiness is worse – like someone dug a hole in her stomach and forgot to fill it back up.

He flops onto his back on her right, his chest heaving and his breathing harsh. She stretches out her right hand to take his left, but he rolls away from her and off the bed. She tries not to feel hurt by that – tries to, but fails.

He makes his way to the bathroom and shuts the door behind him. A little while later she can hear water falling, and she turns on her left side, pulling her knees up to her chest, and the blanket over her. When he comes back out a few minutes later, she pretends to be asleep. He pretends to believe her and says nothing as he closes the bedroom door behind him. Five minutes later, she hears the elevator doors ding open.

Hot, thick tears begin to chase each other down her cheeks.

 **The song Reyna dances to is called 'Cherry Wine' and it's by Hozier. It is a beautiful beautiful song and I am so addicted to it!**

 **Hope you all liked it. Thank you for taking the time to read and like and follow and review. It means the world to me!**


	8. Chapter 8

**My apologies for the long wait for this new chapter. As always, school proves to be a hugely demanding force in my life. I would much rather live in the Jeyna world, but alas, such is life!**

 **(In case you're the one who asked about whether I dance or have done some research, the answer is yes. I do dance. And I have some friends who are exquisite contemporary dancers and they have taught me a thing or two. I'm glad that came out for you!)**

 **As always, thank you, THANK YOU, for taking the time to read my stories and for reviewing, or liking, or following them! It means the world to have your support!**

 **Well, here it is! Enjoy some angst for the start of your week :)**

A week later. One whole week where she's tried to forget about that night, pushing the anxiety and loss away whenever it threatens to overwhelm her.

One whole week she's ignored everyone in her life. One week she hasn't spoken to Jason or Annabeth or Piper or Nico or Percy. One week where she's avoided James. She's worked and worked and kept everyone further than arm's length away from her.

But tonight she has to face them all. And it's making her cranky and resentful. Sometimes she wishes she could just leave this city and never look back. But she knows she doesn't have the courage to do it. What would she have without the people here?

So she smoothes the front of the blush-coloured evening-dress down, sticks the gold studs on, slips on her shoes, and leaves the apartment.

Forty five minutes later she's walking down the steps into the party room of Hermes' – Jupiter City's most expensive and luxurious hotel. People idle in groups, drinking champagne, flirting, and dancing. The hall is decorated simply but elegantly, with fresh flowers and crystals reflecting the light of the chandeliers.

She can't see her friends right now. That's good, she needs a drink first anyway, so when the waiter walks past her, she picks up two champagne flutes, downs the first one, and walks on with the second.

"Lousy week?" She turns at the sounds of his voice.

"Hello James. Had much trouble getting your father coming her tonight?"

He raises his eyebrows at her. "I don't hear from or see you all week and your first question is about whether my _father_ 's pride is in any way damaged."

"Your father is my client. His concerns are always my priority. And I was busy this week."

He sighs and steps closer to her. "My father _was_ your client. And you always are."

He sounds tired and resigned, like he's accepted her resistance to his affections and he's not willing to fight it any more. And it bothers her when she realizes that she doesn't care. That she'd rather he just leave her alone.

"I'm sorry," she says anyway, thinking that that's what he wants to hear.

"I don't need your apology Ramirez," he replies quietly before walking away. She takes a deep breath and makes her way further into the room.

"Hey stranger!" Percy greets, walking up to her with Annabeth's hand in his own.

"Hey." She leans in to give him a hug and place a kiss on Annabeth's cheek. Pulling back she eyes them up and down. "You both are looking rather dashing tonight."

"Why Reyna. We're the couple everyone wants to be. We always look dashing," Percy teases. Annabeth rolls her eyes at him, but still places an affectionate kiss on his cheek. Turning to her she says, "You look lovely Reyna." Then she steps closer to whisper, "Are you okay?"

Reyna gives her tight smile and nods. Fortunately, she's saved form further interrogation by Thalia calling out to her best friend, and in the distraction, she slips away.

She wishes she didn't have to come to this party. But as she helped facilitate the agreement between Zeus and Hades, her presence was obligated. To have not come would have basically amounted to her saying that she didn't approve of it. So here she is, in the middle of a crowd of people she doesn't even want to talk to, and worse, she wouldn't be able to help running into _him_. Sighing, she picks her way to the bar and collapses onto the stool.

"Whiskey, please," she orders without looking up.

"You know you just got here right? Isn't it too early for you to be drinking?" She looks up into the face of a tall, blue-eyed, black haired boy.

"Just give me the drink and spare me the lecture Kota." He shrugs and a moment later slides the glass in front of her. She takes a deep gulp of the amber liquid, feeling it burn its way down to her stomach. She goes to take another but he pulls the glass back.

"Woah there. You might want to pace yourself."

"You're one to talk."

He frowns at her. "This is your solution? Bottle everything up and then drown your sorrows."

"You don't know anything about me."

"Because you hardly speak to me anymore."

She sighs. "Why does everyone keep saying that? Even if I have been avoiding people, why is that anyone's business? I just want to be left alone, to just have a moment of peace without anyone constantly asking me if I'm okay. It's exhausting being scrutinized every second!"

"They want to know if you're okay because they care about you!"

"If they care about me why can't they respect my wishes and leave me alone?"

"Because you may think that that's what you need but it probably isn't."

"Give me back my drink Dakota!"

He raises his eyebrows at her, but then shaking his head, he hands it back. Before he can continue to press her she asks, "Why are you on that side of the counter?"

"I was on the other side, but then I got tired of having meaningless conversations and decided to just do drinks. So I sent home my bartender."

Of course they'd hired Dakota's company to organize the party. "Drink with me Kota." So he pours himself a drink and settles onto a stool beside her. For a while they drink quietly, but then she ventures, "How's Gwen?"

"If I asked you how's Jason how would you feel?"

"Like that's a pointless question. He's right here." She knows what he means, but she wants to avoid that can of worms.

He takes a sip and concedes. "She's in Nicaragua I think. Working with Doctors without Borders."

"Sounds just like Gwen."

"Yep."

She doesn't ask him how he is. She knows that pain all too well. She knows that he doesn't want to be babied, that nothing she says will make him feel any better.

They relapse into silence until they're joined by a third person. "Is anyone working here?" he asks.

"That'd be me," Dakota replies raising his glass.

"Oh. If you're busy, I'll come back."

"Could you for one second stop being so nice? Your ability for goodness is nauseating," she complains.

"Right. I guess that explains your constant disappearance from my life," James retorts.

Dakota widens his eyes. "I'm gonna get both of you a drink." When he gets up, James settles onto the stool vacated by Dakota.

"James, Dakota. Dakota, James. He's Hades' son," she says by-way of an introduction.

"Pleasure," Dakota says, passing his glass to him.

"Likewise," James responds tilting his glass towards the black-haired bartender.

"Right, I'm going to make myself scarce. If anyone else needs a drink, tell them to help themselves." Then he steps away from the bar, and before long he's lost in the crowd of people.

James takes a few sips, then, "Look, I'm sorry about before. I shouldn't have said what I said. What you do with your time is your own business."

"Stop! God, stop being so considerate. I don't deserve it!" He looks up at her surprised, but she continues before he can say anything. "You've always been so nice to me. In college when I pushed everyone away, you went out of your way to befriend me. I didn't want your friendship or your kindness. Why are you wasting it all on me?"

"Isn't it obvious?" he asks quietly.

"Don't. Don't say you love me! How can you love me? I've treated you like crap! I ignore you, and when I don't I still keep you at a distance. I'm a horrible person to you and you still keep trying with me!" Her fingers tighten around the glass, and her jaw clenches. "You need to leave me. Go find someone else who can be just as devoted to you as much as you are to her or him or whoever you choose!"

"You're trying to push me away!"

"And you're too much of a lovesick moron to take a hint!"

"I know you don't mean that!"

"Fuck you James! You don't know anything about me! How could you? I've never let you get close enough! Don't you understand that? I _don't_ want you to know me!"

"I know that you've loved and you've been hurt. That now you're too broken to feel like you can love again." His voice is low, quiet, and pained and brown eyes snap up to his. "I don't know who, of course. But I know that pain. I know when someone's carrying it around because I used to do the same. I know how it looks when someone feels that way."

She doesn't know how to respond to this new bit of information. And shit, she'd forgotten that he'd said he'd been in love once.

"So what? I don't want your pity James."

"I know. That's not I want to give you either. I can only open my heart to you and hope that it'll be enough to help you mend your own."

She says nothing more. Frankly, she doesn't know what to say to that, and even if she did would she want to say it. How can you love someone when you don't have any more love to give?

He looks at her and gives her a half-sheepish smile, a smile she doesn't return, but regards him severely.

At that moment, the loud clinking of a glass being tapped with a spoon interrupts any further conversation and they both turn towards the source of the noise.

"Good-evening ladies and gentlemen," a great voice booms out across the room. "First of all I want to thank you all for joining myself and my family to celebrate this wonderful occasion." Zeus slips his arms around a tall, thin, black-haired woman, wearing an elegant black dress, and adorned with pearls. He smiles at her and she places her hand on her husband's chest. "For a long while, I have been at war with my dear brother Hades."

James straightens next to her and she can feel the tension coming off of him.

"He and I have long had our differences. We've each felt robbed and threatened by the other." (Pig. You've done all the robbing," James grumbles.) "And in the defense of our pride and our honour, we've each said and done things that might not be considered so honourable. But what could we do? We devoted our lives to our businesses and neither of us could tolerate attacks on the thing we worked so hard to achieve. We built our respective companies from the bottom up and somewhere along the line what we worked for also became something we would pass to our children and therefore needed to be preserved at all costs. And thus, our feud began. We both fought to keep our own. But tonight, tonight we gather to celebrate the beginnings of peace. I stand before you all to announce that Hades and I have come to a compromise that will put our differences behind us. We have negotiated an agreement that will hopefully help to foster future co-operation amongst our companies. I am pleased to announce that this new found peace will generate much foreign investment into both our companies and into our city helping both to grow and prosper. So tonight, I toast to new beginnings. To peace and prosperity."

"Hear, hear!" the crowd cheers, raising glasses full of various liquors.

"But tonight, we also gather for another reason. Where's my son?" The blond steps out of the crowd to stand next to his father, arm-in-arm with a beautiful Cherokee girl donned in a simple emerald dress that only enhances her beauty. Zeus claps his son on the shoulder. "Son, I know you think that I have been too hard on you. That perhaps I have expected too much from you. That your mother and I have put too much pressure on you. But tonight I stand here to tell you that I have never been prouder. I am so proud of the man you have become and of the choices you have made. Your work at the company has provided the framework that will take us into the next century. I thank you son, for your devotion to my life's work."

Jason blushes and looks down, and as much as she wants to, she can't take her eyes off him.

"And I am also so pleased to announce the engagement of my son to this beautiful, intelligent, and sharp young lady. Piper, I welcome you to our family, and am so happy that you will be joining a long line of Basileus men and women. I thank you for your good influence in my son's life (Reyna's hand involuntarily clenches even tighter around her glass) and for your patience and devotion to him."

Jason smiles lovingly at her, and pulls her closer so he can press a kiss to her temple. (This time, she has to take a sip of her drink to stop herself from growling, or throwing the glass.)

"To a long and happy life Jason and Piper Grace!" The crowd raises their glasses again, murmuring agreements.

"Please, they're not even married yet," she grumbles.

James studies her for a moment. "So he's the one, huh?"

She ignores the question and drains her glass.

"Dance with me Khtonios." She pulls him to his feet and marches onto the dance floor as the music starts up once again.

She looks exquisite, he thinks. The only thing ruining her appearance is the fact that she looks so damn worn out. But perhaps he's the only once noticing that.

He'd tried to respect her wishes. Stay away from her. Take a break. Not even be her friend. And so this week had been the longest of his life.

He wishes he'd just left when she'd told him to that morning. He wouldn't be in this mess that he is in right now. He wouldn't have made love to her and he wouldn't be feeling so confused now. How can you make love to someone you don't love?

Does he love her?

He can't take his eyes off her.

He can't get her out of his head.

He still tastes her at night. At night when he's lying next to his fiancée, holding her, he still tastes _Reyna_ and he still smells her and he stills feels the way she felt in his arms.

He still wants her. He dreams of her.

He's so confused. And she's dancing with that James guy. Hades' son. Is that the James who was texting her? It probably is.

They're holding each other, but they both look so tense, that he thinks they've been fighting. Knowing Reyna, she's probably just been ignoring him.

If she's dancing with him, she's probably trying to make up with him. Does he want that?

He wants her. For himself. But he's marrying Piper. Why did he propose to Piper? What's happening to him? Does he love her? Piper? Does he fucking love her?

She doesn't suspect anything. She's been too busy planning _their_ wedding. And he feels so guilty. Because his dad was right. Piper has been devoted to him. And he's gone and been unfaithful to her. He's gone and let her down. He's gone and disrespected her.

But Reyna. Hasn't he also disrespected the way she felt (feels?) about him? When he left and never looked back, never considered what was going on with her. When he told himself that she would get over him, did he not fail her then?

 _I failed you. I promised myself that I'd watch over you from the moment I met you and I failed you. I'm sorry._

What did his father mean about Piper having a good influence in his life? Did Zeus not think Reyna worthy of being loved by him? By the son of a corporate giant? Did Piper somehow surpass Reyna? He's angry. Of all the people he knows, no one is more determined or hardworking or stronger than Reyna. How could his father not see that?

He loves her. _I love you._

 _Do I love Piper? Do I agree with my father? Should I tell her what I've done? Will she still love me then?_

 _Please don't leave me_. But he's not sure who he's begging.

 **Hope you liked it. Please,** ** _please_** **, leave your comments :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Alrightey! Time for a new chapter. This one is sort of a flashback. Once you read it you'll understand. Hope you all like it (If you do lemme know. If you don't lemme know anyway). THANK YOU FOR READING, LIKING, FOLLOWING, ETCETERA! you all are the best :)**

Jason hated his step-mother. She was charming with a smile that could make anyone feel like the king of the world. Like they were the most precious thing to her. She was in every charity, she made it her business to help you, and she took it upon herself to fix any and all problems. And he hated her.

She was so god-damn pretentious. She was a busy-body, always in everyone else's business under the cover of 'helping' them. She could claim to fix your problems, but in the process she was unyielding and her solutions were not necessarily in your best interest.

He could give her this much though: she cared about his father and she stood by him steadfastly. Which mostly meant that Jason had tight reins about him.

Tonight she was glowering at him from across the dining table. Her gaze was cold and stern; the one she reserved for her most stubborn and _disobedient_ patrons. He sighed. "I don't want to go to Half-Blood University. I like my life here. And the piloting program at UNR is either comparable or better than the one being offered at HBU."

"I'm sorry you think that way sweetheart. But that simply isn't true. I was speaking with one of your father's best pilots, Billy, do you know him?" She paused for a moment to give Jason a chance to answer, but the blue-eyed boy kept his jaw locked and his eyes staring straight ahead. "Well anyway, he said that he started at UNR and transferred to HBU from his second year. A decision he claims not to regret. He's absolutely convinced he got the most experience and education out of HBU."

Jason glanced at his father standing behind his step-mother's chair, his back turned towards Jason. He fought to keep his voice even and calm. Yelling would achieve nothing. "I've spoken to him before. When I was looking at different schools. It all comes down to which school and which program is a better fit for me. I spoke with instructors and students from both schools and I definitely think UNR is the better choice for me."

"Jason-"

"No," he said clearly, cutting her off. "I know this isn't about which university you think is better. Something else is going on, and if you want me to make this decision you need to tell me exactly what it is you want."

Hera sighed. "Gaea Corps."

Jason frowned. He'd heard about the giant conglomerate before but it'd never been a cause for concern. "What about it?"

"Gaea Corps is becoming a serious concern for your father's company. In the past three months alone, it's merged with 12 other giant corporations becoming the biggest conglomerate in North America. And they're growing. Gaea is a relentless businesswoman. She pursues small businesses and large businesses alike folding them into the conglomerate. Geae Corps has holdings and operations over the world. She'll soon be the largest multinational in the world. And now your father is feeling the squeeze. Because she's taking over all his competitors, her services are cheaper and more and more people are turning to her products. If she's allowed to expand, there won't be any Olympus Inc. Jason. There won't be any businesses in Jupiter City. She will seize control of all of them. It's not just business, it's personal. It's vengeance. Because your father was a good man and he helped clean up this city."

Jason could feel his stomach sinking. He knew the city's history. Jupiter City was once a corrupt city basically divided up amongst twelve under lords who were responsible for 99% of the city's crimes. Drugs, human trafficking, illegal arms, prostitution – any illicit trade really – was their business, and the city looked more like a feudal society than a 20th century modern institution. Until his father and two associates had worked with Jupiter City P.D., buying new weapons, cars, safety gear - supplying anything they needed. Alongside Poseidon and Hades – both of whom were working inside Kronos' (the drug lord and basically the king thug) organization, they brought the Titan Clan to its knees, held a very long and very public trial, and eventually threw them into Tartarus (the high security prison) to rot.

All this was great for his dad, who then settled down in the city and built his company from the ground up. But what it mean for Jason was the expectation that he was born for greatness, that it was his responsibility to uphold his father's legacy. He knew his step-mother would expect him to go to Half-Blood Hill if only to spy on Gaea Corps and report back. No argument would change her mind. But he asked anyway. "So what exactly does this have to do with me?"

"We need to ensure you're properly trained to take over your father's company, Jason."

"Ok. I'm going to an aviation program, not business. I'm sure Hercules would be a better candidate to take over from you dad. You've been training him for this all his life."

His father sighed and finally turned to look at him. "Ever since Megara's death, Hercules hasn't been the same. And even if he was, he has the children to think about. No I cannot burden Hercules with this. You must do this for us Jason."

"Ok. But why do I need to go away to HBU? It's on the other side of the country. I can do business and aviation her at UNR. I'll be close to home so you can train me in the meantime dad. Why do I need to go away?" he asked again.

"Because Gaea Corps is headquartered there Jason," Hera said slowly. He knew she was getting impatient and angry with him. She couldn't stand to be disobeyed. "There is a professor at HBU. His name is Chiron. He also works in global operations for Gaea Corps. He knows the business inside-out. He has access to information that can help us."

"So basically you want me to do corporate espionage."

"Enough boy!" his father growled. "This is important. Our family's legacy is at risk and you're making excuses?"

He flinched on the inside but managed to hide it. "Ok, but even if you want me to play spy, doesn't Half Blood hate us?"

Hera grimaced. "An unfortunate accident."

"I wouldn't call weakening their banks so they'd be reliant on us an unfortunate accident."

"Fine, a minor obstacle."

"Hera –"

"MOM!" she thundered, her eyes piercing into him. She hated when he called her by her name. She insisted on being called mom. She took a deep breath and forced a smile back onto her face. "That's also why we need you to go to HBU. You're charming Jason. And you're good-looking. Make friends. Find a girlfriend. Build a relationship with them. If you succeed the cities will be stronger, more resilient together. Their businesses, their prosperous city is also at risk if Gaea takes over. She doesn't like them anymore than she likes us. Especially since your father and his associates' subsidiaries are the backbone of that city. She will not leave them alone. Please Jason, this is for the good of us all."

Jason hated when she was using her rational voice – mostly because her reasons only made sense to her. But he understood what they needed from him, and he would do anything to protect his family. But, "Ok I have a girlfriend. Whom I love deeply. That won't happen to have anything to do with your decision would it?"

Hera snorted. "Please, the Latina? Jason you think that's forever? One day, you'll see, you'll outgrow her."

Jason's jaw hardened and his bright blue eyes flashed dangerously. He stood up so he could look down at her. "I will do this. For you dad. For this family. But one day I'll come home. And Reyna will still be here. And I will be coming back to her." He glared at the black-haired woman to drive his point home.

Hera just looked back at him, her lips tugged up in a cool, knowing smile. He hated that look too. "We shall see," she replied coolly.

He stalked out and she called after him, "Your plane leaves in an hour Jason. I've already packed your things."

He clenched his jaw but didn't bother wasting time responding. There was someone he needed to see first.

He stood on the steps of her apartment building in the cool night air, pressing her buzzer button for the tenth time. "Come on Rey, please. I need you to be home tonight." He pulled out his phone and dialed her number again. For what felt like the hundredth time he heard, "Hey, you've reached Reyna. Just leave a message."

The car window rolled down and his father called from the back of the limousine. "Jason, come on. That plane needs to leave on time. I need to be in Hong Kong by tomorrow afternoon."

"Ok!" Jason growled. Into the phone he said, "Reyna, I'm sorry, I have to –"

He was interrupted by a cool female voice. "We're sorry but this voice-message box is filled."

"Shit!" He punched the wall. He didn't even register the pain. He felt frantic and lost. He needed to tell her he was going. That he didn't know when he'd be back, but that he'd be back. For her. If only for her. He needed to know that she'd wait for him. He couldn't leave without saying goodbye.

"Jason!" his father called again.

He closed his eyes and swallowed the lump in his throat. "I'll see you again," he murmured to the name beside her buzzer.

He skipped down the stairs, pulled the car door open, and slid into the seat.

They were standing at one end of the runway. He kept checking his phone hoping she'd call back. He'd kept calling her in the car. He couldn't reach her.

"Jason, it's time to go," his father urged. "You can call her from Half-Blood."

"Actually he'll do no such thing," Hera interjected.

Both of them stared at her. "Sweetheart -" Zeus began.

"No," she snapped. "Gaea has it out for you. She'll be monitoring any communications to anyone associated with us, including your girlfriend. You won't be talking to anyone here. Give me your phone."

Jason stared at her, his finger curling more tightly around his phone. "No." Quick as lightning, she pulled the phone from his hands, threw it to the ground and smashed her 8-inch stiletto into it.

"There, problem solved. Now off you go." She gripped his shoulders and pecked his cheek. "Be good Jason. Remember the stakes."

He was still too surprised at what had just happened and before he knew it his father had pulled him through the door of the aeroplane, they were strapped in, and rolling down the runway, Hera's waving hand falling away into the distance.

"But I didn't even get to say goodbye," he whispered to no one in particular.

She wasn't even aware someone had walked up to her until she sat down on her desk. "Hey Rey," the blond-haired, good-natured girl chirped.

"Gwen! Bad-timing as usual!"

"It's always bad-timing with you."

"Fair enough."

She reached for some papers stacked on one corner of the cramped cubicle desk, but Gwen placed her hand on top of it.

"You know this is just an internship right? You don't have to work this hard."

Reyna gave her a tight smile. "This is a make-or-break internship. How I do here will determine my whole future. This could be the opportunity that gets me noticed by Bellona and Athena."

"Reyna, you were top of your class. They'd be stupid to not have noticed you already."

"Ok, but if I do well here it'll also increase my chances of getting into Harvard Law."

"Your name's probably been down since your first year at UNR. Your Intro to Law prof loved you and he teaches at Harvard too. He probably went back and told them to put you down. They probably think you have them on a waiting list or something."

She chuckled. "All the same. I made a commitment here so I've gotta get my work done, k?"

Gwen sighed and rolled her eyes. "All the same, you can go out now and then."

"There'll be plenty of time for that once I get that job at Bellona and Athena."

"You'd think since your mom runs the whole thing, you'd automatically have a place there."

She frowned. "I've never been close to my mother. She left just after I was born. I don't even know if she knows me. And it's not like I want to work there because my mom is _the_ partner. Bellona and Athena is the most -"

"Most prestigious law firm in North America," Gwen parroted. "Yea yea I've heard it all before. I'm sure it doesn't have anything to do with you feeling like you need to prove something to your mom."

She grinded her teeth to stop her from saying something she'd regret.

"It's okay, Rey. We get it. We all feel like we have something to prove to our parents."

"I have nothing to prove to my mother. I doubt whether she remembers she had me at all."

Gwen sighed. "Whatever you say."

"Yea." She pulled the stack of papers towards her. The girl sitting on her desk became very quiet. Too quiet. Reyna looked up at her to find that she was staring off into the distance. "Ok, I'll bite. Why did you really come here? Other than to antagonize me?"

"Um… I was just wondering…. if you knew… if you'd heard… that… well that Jason's coming back tonight."

Her stomach twisted into a hard, uncomfortable knot. But she kept her tone casual, and struggled to stop her hands from shaking as she continued to look at the papers in front of her. "No I hadn't."

"Yea. Apparently he'll be coming in on the Argo Express. Four years later and he's coming back to the city on a train, not his family's posh aeroplane."

"Oh, well that's nice and humble of him, now isn't it?" She couldn't keep the bitterness out of her voice.

Gwen looked down at her apologetically. "I'm sorry Rey. I shouldn't have said anything."

Reyna squeezed her hand. "It's okay. I'm glad you did. Before I run into him somewhere not expecting to see him."

The blonde smiled back, but it was pained. "Do you think you'll go meet him at the train station?"

"No." Her voice was sharp, and Gwen shrinked away from her.

"Okay," she said edgily. "Well I'll let you get back to work. I see you're busy." She stalked off without a backward glance.

And Reyna didn't care. She was simmering. Four years. Four years she hadn't heard from him. She remembered the hassle of running after him. Calling, texting, emailing. No response. It was like he'd died. She remembered chasing after Zeus trying to get him to tell her where Jason was and why she couldn't reach him. And if there was a way to contact him. She remembered showing up at the family mansion with letters. If they weren't going to give her any contact information maybe they could send him the letters she'd written for him. They wouldn't tell her anything. Not where he was, not how he was, not even if he was still alive. She'd had no idea, not a clue, about him. She remembered the sleepless nights, the restlessness, the _offness_ of her days and night. She remembered missing him so much that it'd made her sick. And after a while she'd accepted that he'd abandoned her. Fine, she'd thought. I don't need him. She remembered the parties and the boys and the meaningless sex. She remembered how nothing felt satisfying enough. She remembered how much it'd hurt. Jason was the only thing she'd had for a long time – something she didn't have to slave away for. Something that loved her back, even if she felt she didn't deserve to be loved that way. When no one had seen anything worthwhile in her, he had. And he'd loved her. Or at least she'd believed he had. Now she knew what a fool she'd been. She'd been so starved for love, she'd let herself fall into this trap. Used and then dumped. Just like garbage. How could she have believed that she'd meant anything more to him?

And yet, she couldn't stop herself from checking the train arrival times. There was only one inbound Argos train that evening: the Argo II. She couldn't help imagining the look on his face when he saw her waiting for him. The hopeless romantic in her couldn't help thinking that he'd scoop her up in his arms and bury his face in her hair, laughing his happy giddy boyish laugh that was unavoidably infectious.

Or maybe he'd see her, and his blue eyes would harden and he'd turn and walk away from her like he didn't even know her.

Still, she couldn't help herself from fixing her hair in the bathroom mirror before leaving work. "I'm not going to the train station," she muttered to herself.

She couldn't stop herself from going in the opposite direction of her home when she stepped out of building. "I'm just going for a walk."

She couldn't stop herself from stopping and buying a bouquet of red amaryllis flowers from Persephone as she passed the shop. "These will look nice on the coffee table."

She couldn't stop herself from walking into the train station. She couldn't stop herself from glancing at the information board to see if the train was on schedule or from glancing at the clock to see how much time was left. She saw his family come into the station, but she kept her head down and away from them. She'd had enough of them.

She couldn't stop the giddy excitement she felt when the train finally pulled up. And finally the doors were opening. And there he was stepping off the train, a bit taller, his hair slightly longer. But still beautiful, his mouth curved up in the warm, confident smile she loved best. He saw his family and raised his hand, but then turned back to the train, and lifted his hand to someone standing just inside the door. A small hand took his, and was then followed by a slender, small, fragile-looking, beautiful young woman, who gazed down at him, with something that couldn't be mistaken for anything but love. And the way he was smiling up at her with the same amount of warmth and tenderness. She stepped off the train and stood beside him, and he wrapped his arm around her waist, holding her close.

She couldn't help the sinking feeling in her stomach. She couldn't help the empty, numb feeling. She couldn't help feeling like she was done feeling. Like she just couldn't anymore. She couldn't stop herself from turning around and walking out of the station, dropping the flowers into the open violin case of the performer by the door.

She was done. She'd been foolish enough already.

He'd been back about a month and a half before she saw him again. This time, he was standing in front of her apartment door waiting for her. She blinked when she saw him, stopped dead in her tracks. Why was he here?

He looked at her and there was a hardness there that made perfect sense. There was pain too but that made less sense.

She said nothing to him as she pushed the key into the lock, twisted it, and then pushed the door open.

"Can I come in?" he whispered, his mouth close enough for her to feel his breath on her neck.

She was tempted to say no. _No I can't see you_. But she stepped in and held the door open for him to follow her in. He followed her into the kitchen.

"Coffee?" she asked.

"No. Nothing. I'm good."

Nothing but their breathing whilst she prepared her cup of coffee. Then, "I see you still live in this beat-up apartment." He tried for joking, but he was too nervous, so his voice came out tight and strained.

She bristled. "Well you'll be happy to know not for much longer."

"Oh?"

She nodded. He waited for her response. "I got into Harvard."

"That's brilliant!" He sounded genuinely happy for her.

"Yes."

"When do you leave?"

"Soon." _Not soon enough_.

"Oh."

"Listen Reyna, maybe we could-"

"No."

"I haven't finished yet."

"I don't want you to finish. I don't want to hear what you have to say. I don't want to see you. I don't want to spend any time with you. I want to go away from this god-forsaken place without any baggage." She couldn't keep the resentment out of her voice, and she could see he was shocked by it. _Good_. She wanted to hurt him. If only a little. Nothing she did to him could compensate for the past four years.

"Reyna-"

"Just go Jason."

He recoiled from her. But after a moment, he shook his head and walked out.

She looked around the tiny place. She was glad she was leaving soon. She used to love this place, but now she hated it. He was everywhere. On the couch where they'd watched their favourite movies. In the kitchen where they'd cooked together. On the bed where they'd slept, curled up and into each other. And everywhere they'd made love. His presence haunted her in this place. His touch, his scent, _him_. She needed to get away from him. There wasn't space for both of them in this city.

Strangely, it was his girlfriend that brought them back together. She cornered Reyna outside her office building a week later.

"Hi, I'm Piper," she said simply, solemnly, holding her hand out.

Reyna grimaced on the inside, but she shook her hand anyway. "Reyna," she replied quietly. She already hated this girl. She wanted nothing to do with her. She began to walk away, but the girl matched her strides to her. Her legs were shorter and she needed to take longer steps to keep. _Good_ , Reyna thought. She felt a shiver of malicious pleasure, and she hated herself for it. _Don't be bitter_ , she chastised herself, bitterly.

"Look, you don't have to pretend. Jason told me about you at school. I know you two have history together. So I know you probably don't like me. Probably even hate me. I'm not asking you to change your mind about me."

Reyna said nothing. Just kept on walking. She wanted to get away from this Cherokee princess.

"But Jason. He's been so _quiet_ ever since we came here. Distant. And you probably won't believe me when I tell you this but it's you. He feels awful about how things happened four years ago."

"As well as he should," she spat out, stopping and staring down at the Cherokee. But Piper didn't draw back. She stared resolutely up at the brunette.

"Well you're not exactly blameless either," she said calmly.

"Excuse me?"

"He wrote to you. You never replied."

This was news to her. It must have shown on her face because…

"Oh you didn't know," Piper said quietly. "Look at least give him a chance to explain. He's actually waiting for me at a diner two blocks down from here. Actually I told him to meet me there, but really he's meeting you. Although he doesn't know that."

Reyna was shocked by this girl. She was fierce and intuitive and she had spunk. She was developing a quick, grudging respect for her. She hated it.

"Will you come with me?" Piper asked.

She opened her mouth to say no, but yes came out instead. She couldn't help that either. And five minutes later she found herself staring down at a very surprised looking Jason.

She sat down across from him and Piper excused herself, saying she had to run some errands. Bullshit.

They both ordered and then Reyna said, "So you wrote to me…."

When they left the diner, she didn't really feel better. Just more confused. He'd written to her, she'd written to him, but neither of them had gotten the other's letters. She suspected his parents had something to do with it.

Still, he had her number. He could have found a way to call her. He could've used someone else's phone to text her. He could've come back for Christ's sake. Desperate times. He could've done anything. But he didn't. She hated him for not trying hard enough. She would've done anything for him. (Well almost anything)

And there was still the matter that he'd moved on. He hadn't even waited to come home and sort things through with her. _"I thought you'd moved on without me_ ," he'd said.

 _How could I move on without you? I don't feel right without you_ , she'd thought. Though she didn't say it a loud.

Yes, she still hated him. He hadn't tried hard enough.

As they stopped in front of her building, he faced her. "I know this might be asking too much but-"

"I can try. I can't guarantee that it'll be as good as before but we can try to salvage our friendship. It'll take time."

"I know. But I can take all the time we need."

He was willing to wait for their friendship, but nothing more. The rejection shamed her. She was angry with the shame. How could she ever let a boy belittle her this way?

She nodded. "I'm leaving for Harvard. I'll try and keep in contact. And when I get back, we shall see what happens."

He nodded. "It's all I can ask for I suppose."

She walked into the building without responding.

They'd repaired their friendship, but as she walked into her apartment that night after the party at Olympus Inc., Reyna wished she didn't even have that anymore. It just wasn't the same.


	10. Chapter 10

**New chapter! FINALLY! Thanks everyone who's read and who keeps reading! Ya'll are honestly the best!**

 **This one has some Percy/Jason bromance for time-failed-us who suggested some bro-advice.**

 **Hope you enjoy!**

She wakes up feeling more tired than she remembers feeling going to bed. Her bed feels too big and her head feels too full. But when she tries to put order to the chaos in her head, when she tries to make sense of it through speech, she has nothing to say. It's not like she has nothing to say, it's just that nothing feels _worth_ saying anymore. It's just that whatever she has to say is not _worth_ anyone listening to. It's just that whatever she has to say is not _worth_ the energy to say it.

So these days she's quiet. She doesn't know if her friends have noticed. They're all so busy preparing for the wedding (that's now only a week and a half away) that all they have time for is to see whether she nods or shakes her head. It's a relief not to be examined too closely.

Life goes on. She goes to work every day, she meets with clients, and she performs her bridesmaid's duties. But now everything is mechanic. Everything feels meaningless. What does any of it matter, what she's doing right now? One day she'll die and none of this will have mattered. She'll die alone and that would have been the only thing that mattered. Her headstone would read: _Here lies Reyna Avila Ramirez Arellano. An all-round influential woman, but a lonely, sad woman she remained._

Sometimes she makes parodies of her life in her head. The only thing that helps is making fun of the whole situation. After all, none of it should be taken so seriously.

Sometimes she runs into Jason if she's running around helping Piper. After a brief, tight-lipped greeting, they're both moving on with whatever they have to do. There's no time to feel awkward. Good.

But the loneliness is terrible. The hungry monster grips her tight and weaves her insides into tight knots. The loneliness is draining, leaving her emptier day by day.

She knows she needs to figure something out. Sometimes she thinks of calling James, but he's not a solution, only an escape. And calling Jason would only make everything worse. No, the only way out is to figure this out herself, to pick herself up, to make herself move on. This has to be done by her for her.

So she pushes herself out of bed and forces herself through the morning routine. Shower, brush teeth, get dressed, have breakfast. She's about to walk out the door, when she feels suddenly angry. She works so damn hard and for what? Nothing! She growls and throws the keys as hard and as far as she can. Her pulse is racing and something hot stings her eyes.

 _I will not cry. I will not give them the satisfaction of making me cry_. She fires off a quick text to Ryan: _Cancel all appointments. Not feeling well. Need a sick day._

The phone beeps a quick reply, but she ignores it. _I'm so fucking done with all this bullshit_ , she thinks, switching the device off. Then she rips the clothes off and jumps back into bed.

He misses her so badly it aches. But he doesn't know how to reach out to her. He doesn't want to push too hard because he's afraid he'll push her away. He wants to reach out to her but he's afraid he'll push her away. He doesn't know much about her anymore, he realizes sadly. He doesn't know when it's too little or too much. And it hurts. He's never ached this badly. Not even when he left for Half Blood University without knowing if she'd still be here. Why did he ever doubt her? How could he have ever believed that she wouldn't wait for him? Perhaps he cries out in his sleep, because suddenly he's being shaken roughly, and Piper's voice is urgent and far-away.

"Jason, wake up! Jason, what's wrong? BABE!"

He jerks awake and it takes a minute for him to bring his surroundings into focus and to realize that Piper is staring at him, concern etched deeply into her face.

"Jace, you okay?" she murmurs, thumbing his right cheek.

"Yea," he whispers, turning his lips into her hand, "Just a nightmare. It's okay, we should go back to sleep." But she still looks worried so he pulls her closer and lies back down so that he's curled around her. He still feels cold though….

She doesn't hear anyone come in, and she barely notices when the mattress dips as someone sits down in front of her.

"Hey Rey," he barely whispers.

She glances at him to acknowledge that he's there.

"You're driving your assistant crazy you know. Says you had some big meeting with some really important clients. If you ask me he's just afraid Octavian will play boss for the day."

She says nothing. She hadn't heard her phone ring.

"Rey, Patty is worried. We're all worried. Annabeth says you hardly speak anymore."

"None of this really matters you know," she finally murmurs.

He surprises her by saying, "I know. When someone you love so deeply goes away, it leaves you with a heavy burden that nothing else can alleviate." Dakota takes her hands and rubs his thumbs across the back of them soothingly. "Gwen left, Bobby travels, Jason's busy with his new life. You and I, we're all we've got left." He pauses, then takes a deep breath, and says, "Please don't leave me too." He doesn't meet her eyes, but the way his voice catches makes a hard lump swell in her throat. So she leans forward and rests her head on his shoulder.

"I can't make any promises."

"Just try, please."

She rubs her nose on his shoulder blade. "I don't want to. I don't want to care about anything anymore. Nothing matters."

He leans his head against her. "We'll figure it out. But we need to take baby steps. We can lie here if you want, for starters."

So she lies back down, and he shifts until he's lying next to her, but not close enough to touch. Without speaking, they both stretch out their hands until their fingers are closing around each other's.

"Sleep Reyna." Her eyes are already closing.

He dribbles the ball furiously, cuts pass Percy, runs into a jump, and dunks the ball into the net. It bounces on the floor with a loud thump and rockets back up to the ceiling.

Percy catches the ball and raises an eyebrow at his blond-haired friend. "Dude, you might be taking the game a little too seriously. It's just a friendly mano-e-mano competition bro. No need to get your panties all in a knot."

"Just dribble the ball Perce," he growls.

"Alright man. But when I wipe the floor with your ass remember you asked for it." He quickly dodges past Jason, who blocks him, steals the ball, and makes another successful dunk.

"Who's wiping the floor with whose ass now?" Jason asks smugly.

"Yea, yea, I let you win that one. I felt bad for you. I thought maybe you wouldn't be able to keep up since you're having nightmares and not sleeping well," he replies, toweling off his hair.

Jason straightens up, jaw clenching tightly. "What did you say?"

"Come on man. You didn't actually think that Piper wouldn't say anything, did you. She's worried about you. I told her it's probably pre-wedding jitters, but…"

"But, what?" He's hurriedly stuffing things into his gym bag. He needs to get out of here, fast. This conversation is getting too dangerous.

"But it might be more than that."

"It's nothing." He picks up the bag and slings it onto his shoulder. He's turning to walk away when Percy says, "You wouldn't be so defensive if it wasn't."

He sighs and turns back around. "Honestly man, it's nothing. It's like you said, pre-wedding jitters…"

"Right. Just that. I'm sure Reyna isn't involved somehow."

He stiffens. "Of course not. Why would she be?"

"She wouldn't. But I just think it's weird how you two have been acting around each other. Barely speaking, awkward, avoiding being around each other as much as possible…"

"We haven't been avoiding each other. We've both just been really busy."

"Jesus Jace! Will you just cut the shit? I know something's going on. Rey hardly talks to any of us anymore. And you're not sleeping well. The two of you having problems at the same time is not a coincidence. What the fuck is going on?"

He knows that Percy won't let this go. "Come on. This'll need a drink."

"Shit…" Percy mutters.

Ten minutes later, they're seated in a secluded booth at their favourite bar "The Party Ponies." Percy sips a beer and Jason is already on his third glass of scotch.

"Well…" Percy goads. "We haven't got all day to play therapist."

Jason sighs. "About a week and a half ago Reyna and I hung out…"

"Yes, when Piper and Annabeth went out for wedding-planning. She told us."

"Well she kinda said some things…"

"Like?"

"Like she still loves me."

"Yea, no shit."

Jason frowns at him. "You knew?"

"Seriously dude? The whole world fucking knows. You're the only one she gets on well with."

"Ugh! God I'm so damn blind! If I hadn't been so damn oblivious, maybe things would be different."

"Ok. I know this might be big news to you, but it can't be the reason why you two are being so weird. What really happened?"

"Well she wanted me to leave. Says we need to put some distance between ourselves."

"Makes sense."

"Well I just wanted to spend a day with my friend, so I suggested we just hang out just one last time. And I guess one thing led to another, and next thing you know, I'm making love to her."

"Dude."

She rubs her eyes into wakefulness and glances over at Dakota, whose fingers are still tightly intertwined with hers. She smiles, leans over, and places a gentle kiss onto his forehead. "Thanks Kota," she murmurs.

"Anytime sunshine." He tugs on her hand and she moves closer to rest her head on his shoulder. "Now what are you going to do about this mess?"

"I slept with him you know. The last time he was here."

"I figured."

"He made love to me." She can't stop the sadness and disappointment that colours her voice.

He sighs. "Do you still want him?"

"I -" She has to pause to think that one over.

"I don't mean want in just a sexual way. I meant want in an "I want a relationship with him kind of way."

She bites her lip and sits up. "I don't know."

"Why don't you know?"

"For so long, I was so busy feeling sorry for myself that Jason went away and came back with someone else that I never stopped to think if I still wanted him. I think I still love him. I still love him and it hurts so much that he doesn't love me back, and maybe that's what's making him pine after him. For so long Jason was the person who saw me. Who looked at me, saw everything I was, and still loved me for it all. I didn't think anyone else could love me that way. He's always been so good to me, and he's still so good to me. But do I still want him? After everything's that happened? If I do still want him, what does that say about me? Why should I still want him?" She's ranting more at herself now.

But Dakota sits up beside her and rubs her back. "Because sometimes we only get one shot at real love. At that one great love in life. We can learn to love another, but it's never the same."

"Shouldn't I be able to love myself?"

He chuckles. "Oh Reyna. You're much too smart to be asking a question like that."

She turns towards him and wraps her arms around him. "Will you talk to Gwen?"

"She comes home this weekend for the wedding."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"I'll make you a deal. You know what you have to do now?" She nods. "Ok, if you do that, I will do what I need to do."

She closes her eyes for a moment. "Lord give me strength."

"So what are you going to do now?" Percy asks.

"Do? I'm not going to do anything. I'm going to get married and pretend that none of this ever happened. One day we'll forget about it."

"Hmm. That's an interesting plan. But here's the thing, it's also the laziest plan. You're hoping the problem will just go away instead of trying to fix it."

"Damn it Percy!" he yells, slamming his fist down on the table. "What the fuck am I supposed to do?"

Percy drains his beer. "You already know man."

"I can't talk to her! What the fuck am I supposed to say?" His voice is desperate, and his fingers are pulling at his hair.

Percy sighs. "Jason, apart from being your ex-girlfriend, Reyna is the best friend you've ever had She gets you. If you don't know how to say something, she'll understand anyway. You just need to try."

"I hurt her too much."

Percy thinks about that. Then, "You know I find it interesting that you chose the words "I'm making love to her". It suggests that it wasn't just some meaningless fuck. Making love tends to have some sort of emotional connection to it." Another pause. "Jason, however this conversation turns out, you need to have it. You can't get married to Piper without having it. You still feel something for Reyna and you need to figure out what it is. Talk to her. She will listen to you. You know that."

"What if we talk and I realize that I'm still in love with her?"

"Maybe you already know you are."

"Shit. I'm fucked."

Percy grins. "And I bet it's not the usual way you like."

Jason just responds with his best Reyna Eye Roll.

 **As always feel free to leave your thoughts! :)**

 **(I know, I'm a shameless beggar :P)**


	11. Chapter 11

She's waiting for him on the steps of his brownstone when he comes home. "Hey."

"Hey," he says at the same time. An awkward silence, he doesn't seem surprised to see her. He clears his throat and says, "I'm glad you're here, I was just about to call you."

She nods, she's also not surprised. She just climbs the steps following him into the house. When he disappears into his room, she climbs onto a barstool at the island in his kitchen. He reappears a minute later in pyjama pants and a t-shirt, opens the fridge, and throws her a bottle of beer.

"Thanks," she says unscrewing it. After her first gulp she says, "About that night."

"It wasn't nothing," he says glaring at her. At first she's taken aback, but the sincere intensity of his gaze – the blueness of his eyes a deeper shade than usual, and open wide – makes her smile. And then the smile turns into a grin, and suddenly she's laughing like she hasn't laughed in ages. He frowns at her, and she also doesn't know why she's laughing. Perhaps she's finally gone mad from all the stress. But there's also something ludicrous about the whole situation – all the heartbreak and pining finally leading up to this. You hurt so much that after a while, the only thing left to do is laugh.

She laughs until there are tears welling up in her eyes and her sides are aching and she doesn't know when it happened, but he's sitting beside her now, gripping her hand tightly, and watching her with something between concern and bemusement.

She laughs until she starts to hiccup, and her hiccups turn into sobs, and the tears are flowing heavier now, and she's shaking, and he's pulling her closer to him, holding her tight to his chest, arms wrapped around her, lips pressed to the top of her head.

"It wasn't nothing," she manages to say, words broken because of her sobs. "It wasn't nothing."

"It wasn't nothing," he repeats, and something wet lands on the flap of her ear.

"I wanted you. I still want you. This is all so wrong."

"What if I still want you too?"

She pushes herself up straight, and wipes her eyes. "It doesn't work that way Jason. You made your choice. We both did," she says, looking straight into his eyes. She needs him to know that she means what she says.

"I choose you," he whispers. "I want you," he insists, louder.

She shakes her head. "No, you _chose_ me a long time ago. And you loved me. _So_ much. And it made all the difference in the world to have that love. I was so alone Jason. And terrified that I would always be alone. I had resigned myself to it. Learnt to live with the loneliness so that one day I stopped noticing it. Then one day you came along. And you had so much life, so much happiness, so much love to give. You were the sun and you pulled me into your orbit, and after so long in the darkness you made me feel warm and alive again. You made me want to love again Jason."

He weaves his fingers through hers – pink skin mixed with tan – and they fit perfectly. "Let me love you. Please," he pleads.

"You've made another choice now Jason. You choose Piper."

"I chose her. I choose you."

"You can't keep going back and forth Jase. You need to make up your mind. Just like I need to make up my mind." She pulls her hand back and looks at him. "Why did you leave me behind?"

"Reyna-"

"Why Jason?" Her voice isn't accusatory, she just needs the question answered so she can make him understand.

He sighs. "I didn't leave you behind. I thought you left me behind. I tried to reach out to you but I couldn't find you. And one day, I just got really tired of trying and failing. So I just stopped."

"And I stopped as well. That's my point Jason. We gave up on each other. You thought I'd forgotten you and I thought you'd forgotten about me and we both just gave up! We didn't hold on."

"That wasn't our fault Rey!" he shouts, standing up. "I'm never going to forgive my parents for it."

"It is our fault. You could've waited until you came back to Jupiter City before you moved on. You could've come home to me. But you didn't! You moved on because it was time to."

"Bullshit! I was lonely and hurt and angry and I let it get the better of me. I let myself think you could've forgotten about me. I was an idiot and now you want to excuse that?"

"I'm not excusing anything!" She's finally on her feet as well, her face right up in his. "I hated you for forgetting about me. You betrayed me. You did let your emotions lead you astray. Is that what you want to hear?"

"And what about you huh? From what I hear, you weren't exactly Ms. Chastity Saint. Ramirez!"

"My sex life has nothing to do with you!" she shouts. How dare he fling this back in her face?

"It has everything to do with me! Because you reacted the exact same way I did! You thought I left you behind so you let your own emotions lead you astray! You betrayed me!"

"I had meaningless one night stands with people whose names I don't even remember. You had a lasting emotional commitment with someone! Who do you think really betrayed who?"

His face is red and his chest is heaving. "I would've chosen you any day Reyna! You!" he shouts, jabbing her in the chest. "You, who saw me, the scared little boy in high school who everyone else thought was their school hero." He steps forward. "You, who saw how terrified I was of my step-mother when everyone else thought I had the perfect little family." Another step. "You, who gave me strength to face my fears, who taught me to understand my responsibilities, who taught me to balance those but not to lose myself." He'd advanced so much that now her back's pressed against the wall, and she can feel his breath on her face. He closes his eyes, and presses his forehead against hers. "You taught me balance Reyna, and I found myself when I was with you."

"Then why are you marrying her?" she whispers.

"I don't know."

She wraps her arms around his waist and pulls him tight. With her lips to his ear she says, "Yes, you do. But you're afraid to say it."

He wraps his arms around her waist in return, presses a kiss to her right ear, and murmurs an "I'm sorry."

"Just say it, Jason."

"I'm marrying her because I love her. In a way that's different from loving you. I found myself when I was with you, but now…"

"Now you can just be yourself with her. You're free with her. And I remind you of everything that used to be."

He pulls back and brushes her hair off her forehead. "I still love you. I still want you."

"I will always love you Jason." She pushes herself off from the wall and steps pass him. "But now it's time for me to start living my life for me. I have to decide what I want. I want you because I've been pining for you for so long. I thought you were the only one I could ever love because you taught me how to love. But now I need to learn to love for myself. I need to bring my own light. I can't spend the rest of my life pining after someone, hungry for their love. That's no way to live." She steps back to him, and presses a kiss to her cheek. "I believe that you still love me, but you've already moved on. You found that in Piper. Now do right by her and don't leave another broken heart in your wake. Things between us can't go back to the way they used to be. There's too much pain. Don't let a broken thing ruin something good for you and Piper. Live your life, Jason. Be happy. And let me live mine."

She moves to step away, but he whimpers and pulls her back, pressing his lips to hers. "I love you. Goodbye Reyna."

She backs away from him. "Goodbye Jason Grace."

Outside, the sky is a dark, steel grey, and the rain is pounding the pavement. The perfect weather for her mood.

When she shows up to his apartment, thirty minutes later, she's soaking wet, shivering, and her hair is plastered to her face. He's surprised to see her, but when he notices how wet she is he frowns. "Did you walk all the way here?"

She tries to grin, but her teeth are chattering. "Walking's g-g-g-g-goo-dd ex-ex-ex ACHOOO! Exercise."

"You're crazy," James asserts.

"C-c-c-can I c-c-c-c-ome in?"

"Yea, shit! Sorry!" He pulls the door wider, and she steps in. "Why don't you go take a hot shower and I'll get you somethings to wear and something to eat."

She nods. "Thanks."

Half an hour later, she steps into the living room wearing a pair of his sweatpants and an old NRU sweater to find a steaming bowl of chicken noodle soup on the coffee table. He looks up from the sofa where he's sitting, motions for her to sit down, and says, "Eat."

She doesn't argue – she's starving, and the soup is really warming her up on the inside.

He's watching her quietly and she knows she owes him an explanation for why she's shown up on his doorstep, looking like a homeless person. So after she swallows, she opens her mouth to say, "Look James-" but he cuts her off. "Eat. We'll talk when you're done."

God, he can be so infuriating with his patience and his attention, so she rolls her eyes. But something other than the soup is making her feel warm and she can't help smiling. She's so hungry, she wolfs down the soup, and in no time she's setting the bowl back down on the coffee table.

"Do you want some more?"

"I'd love some more."

He moves to pick up her bowl presumably to refill it but she grabs his hand. "Wait. First we need to talk."

"Reyna, honestly!" he grumbles, exasperatedly. "We haven't spoken in like almost two weeks, and then you show up at my door soaking wet, and then expect me to just drop everything to hear your excuses?"

She doesn't blame him for being angry. "Look, I haven't come to give you excuses. I've come to apologize."

He tilts his head at her. "Oh?" Then leans back against the sofa. "Ok, let's hear it."

"I have been an awful… whatever it is we have… to you. More importantly, I've also been an awful friend to you. I transferred my personal feelings for someone else on to you and for that I am sorry."

"Ok."

"Ok?"

"Yes, okay."

"That's it?"

"What else do you want me to say?" He sounds bitter.

"No 'you can always talk to me if you want to Reyna'?"

"With you I've learnt not to ask." He's definitely bitter.

She sighs and leans her head back. "I did this."

"Did what?"

"Pushed you away."

"Yea, you kinda did." He sighs, then adds, "But it's your business and you don't know me that well."

She looks at him – it's true. Even after all the sex, she's never really made an effort to get to know him. "Tell me about your tragic love story."

He frowns at her. "Why would you want to know about that?"

"I'll show you my scars if you show me yours. And you've always been better at this opening up thing."

He stares at her, then laughs, and shoves her playfully. "Where do I begin? Tis was a bright and beautiful day when mine eyes first alighted upon her…"

She giggles. "Oh Romeo, Romeo where art thou Romeo?"

"Dost thou bite thy thumb at me?" he demands with mock anger, poking her.

"And what if I did?"

"Ah, then I shall surely perish!"

She rolls her eyes at him. "What a drama queen!" Picking up her bowl, she says, "I'm going for more food and when I get back you're telling me this story."

He chuckles after her.

"She really was beautiful, you know," he says when she sits back down next to him, balancing the hot bowl on her lap. "Intelligent and funny. I think I've loved her since I first lay eyes on her."

"Which was…"

"Kindergarten."

She stares at him. "Seriously? You're one of those romantic saps?!"

"Well we can't all have passionate love-hate relationships!" he grumbles, shooting her an angry glare.

"Ok. Ok! I take it back. Carry on, my wayward Romeo."

He rolls his eyes at her. "Well we both went to school together for a long time, we became best friends, she went off to travel the world, and settled down in Rio as an environmental conservationist. And I've never seen her since our first year at college."

He turns around to find her staring at him open-mouthed with the spoon halfway to her mouth. He covers her hand with his own and guides the spoon to her mouth.

"I'm sorry."

He laughs. "You were expecting something much more climactic weren't you?"

"Well, yea. I mean it's pretty sad for you, but did she know you were in love with her?"

"Well, no."

"Well there, you can't be angry with her."

"I'm not angry with her. I moved on. I never let it get the best of me," he replies, smiling at her. "You on the other hand…"

"I did," she agrees.

"You don't have to tell me."

"I want to." She puts the bowl down onto the coffee table, straightens up, and takes his hand. "Look, I don't know if I could ever love you the way I love him, and I don't know if I'm ready to have a relationship. I need to figure out somethings for myself. But I could use a friend. And I like you. You're annoyingly patient and hopelessly romantic, but there's something comforting about you. I used you as an escape. But I don't want you to be an escape. I want you to be real and I want to be here with you."

He squeezes her hand in reply, and she takes a deep breath. "But first, there are some things you should know about me…I was with Jason about two weeks ago…" And she tells him everything. Well mostly everything. About Jason and what he means to her. (Not about her family life. She's not ready to share that yet). "I was so angry for so long and I let it get in the way of everything. I pushed you away because I didn't want to love again. I wanted Jason and I thought no one could take his place. Maybe no one will, but I don't need someone to be Jason. I need someone else because I need to move on. It's time to let go."

"And me?"

She takes a deep breath. "Let's start over. Let me get to know you. Please. Hi, I'm Reyna," she says stretching out her hand.

He smiles, and takes her hand. "Hello Reyna. I look forward to getting to know you. We can take all the time you need."

 **Thank you for reading, following, and reviewing. Ya'll give meaning to this whole process :)**


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